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Peer Gynt
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Peer Gynt

play by Ibsen
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Article History

Peer Gynt, five-act verse play by Henrik Ibsen, published in Norwegian in 1867 and produced in 1876. The title character, based on a legendary Norwegian folk hero, is a rogue who will be destroyed unless he is saved by the love of a woman.

Peer Gynt is a charming but lazy and arrogant peasant youth who leaves home to seek his fortune. Confident of success, he has one disastrous adventure after another. In one, he attends the wedding of a wealthy young woman he himself might have married. There he meets Solveig, who falls in love with him. He impulsively abducts the bride from her wedding celebration and subsequently abandons her. He then embarks on a series of fantastic voyages around the world, finding wealth and fame but never happiness. Finally, old and disillusioned, he returns to Norway, where Solveig, ever faithful and loving, welcomes him home, and he is redeemed.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.