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An Enemy of the People
An Enemy of the People concerns the actions of Doctor Thomas Stockmann, a medical officer charged with inspecting the public baths on which the prosperity of his native town depends. He finds the water to be contaminated. When he refuses to be silenced, he is declared an enemy of the people. Stockmann served as a spokesman for Ibsen, who felt that his plays gave a true, if not always palatable, picture of life and that truth was more important than critical approbation.
144 pages, paper
First published January 1, 1882
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About the author
Christopher Hampton
110 books23 followersChristopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement.
Hampton became involved in the theatre while studying German and French at Oxford University where OUDS performed his play When Did You Last See My Mother?, about adolescent homosexuality, reflecting his own experiences at Lancing College, the boarding school he had attended. The play was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London, and that production soon transferred to the Comedy Theatre, resulting in Hampton, in 1966, becoming the youngest writer to have a play performed in the West End in the modern era.
From 1968-70 he worked as the Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre, and also as the company's literary manager. Hampton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1988 for the screen adaptation of his play Dangerous Liaisons. He was nominated again in 2007 for adapting Ian McEwan's novel Atonement. Hampton forthcoming project is the translation into English of Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay's Austrian musical Rebecca based on Daphne du Maurier's book which is scheduled to premiere in 2009 in Canada, and then move to Broadway in 2010.
Hampton became involved in the theatre while studying German and French at Oxford University where OUDS performed his play When Did You Last See My Mother?, about adolescent homosexuality, reflecting his own experiences at Lancing College, the boarding school he had attended. The play was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London, and that production soon transferred to the Comedy Theatre, resulting in Hampton, in 1966, becoming the youngest writer to have a play performed in the West End in the modern era.
From 1968-70 he worked as the Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre, and also as the company's literary manager. Hampton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1988 for the screen adaptation of his play Dangerous Liaisons. He was nominated again in 2007 for adapting Ian McEwan's novel Atonement. Hampton forthcoming project is the translation into English of Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay's Austrian musical Rebecca based on Daphne du Maurier's book which is scheduled to premiere in 2009 in Canada, and then move to Broadway in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 12, 2021
An exceedingly enraged play with an intellectually revolutionary motto. It even surprised me. I'm taking off one star for the pat and inexplicably optimistic ending.
July 18, 2023
What does it help to be in the right if you don't have any power?
it's a decent play about the costs and consequences of fighting for what one believes is the truth; probably my favorite and most timeless of the three ibsen plays i listened to. the analogy of broadmindedness being almost the exact same as morality i believe is the key takeaway, some people live and stay in their own world and never want to expand it further to appreciate what truly surrounds them and if those people are in positions of power while the right people for that job aren't, the "truth" is irrelevant. i mean, we live in the age of information and the skeleton of this book is identical to the ones of a lot of issues right now in the world. interesting!
January 30, 2016
3.5 stars.
This was a really interesting play, but one that I think needs further study before I understand it's complexities fully.
This was a really interesting play, but one that I think needs further study before I understand it's complexities fully.
July 14, 2018
"If you go out to fight for freedom and truth, you should never wear your best trousers."
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews