Henrik Ibsen was a major Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century who introduced to the European stage realistic contemporary plays that set out to expose social evils. He wrote plays about ordinary people, but from them he elicited insights of devastating directness, great subtlety, and occasional flashes of rare beauty.
Why is Henrik Ibsen important?
What was Henrik Ibsen’s childhood like?
Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, a small lumber town in southern Norway. His father was a respected merchant in the community until 1836, when he went bankrupt. The family sank into poverty. At age 15, Ibsen moved to Grimstad. There he worked as an apothecary’s apprentice while studying nights for admission to the university.