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    A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand"
    A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand"
    A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand"
    Ebook39 pages29 minutes

    A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateAug 3, 2016
    ISBN9781535819879
    A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Brand" - Gale

      3

      Brand

      Henrik Ibsen

      1866

      Introduction

      Henrik Ibsen’s religious drama, Brand, caused a huge stir when it was first published in Scandinavia in 1866. Although it was well received in Denmark, it was highly debated in Norway, Ibsen’s pious homeland. Ibsen wrote the play while on a self-imposed exile in Italy, which began in 1864. Although the play’s sources of inspiration have been interpreted in many different ways, it is likely that the work—like Ibsen’s exile—was a statement on Norway’s failure to join with its Danish neighbors in preventing Germany from taking two of Denmark’s duchies in 1864. The play was the first commercial and critical success of Ibsen’s and paved the way for his future successes, starting with Peer Gynt, which he published a year after Brand. Both plays are verse dramas—plays written in the style of a poem—a more literary but less common type of modern drama.

      Brand was a cathartic writing experience for Ibsen, who never intended the play to be staged. Like the inspiration for the play, the meaning in the work has also been interpreted in many different ways. The main character, Brand, is a pastor who holds himself and all of his followers, including his wife, to the rigid command of Naught or All! This essentially means that people must be willing to risk their lives and all earthly attachments if they wish to find eternal salvation. Brand is tested on this faith, and even though he falters a few times, he nevertheless goes the distance, sacrificing his mother, son, and wife in an attempt to adhere to his beliefs. The ambiguous ending has been interpreted in many contradictory ways, including that Brand’s life is either meaningful or worthless. Although this is one of Ibsen’s major works, it is currently out of print. Various translations can often be found in libraries. One such translation is the 1960 Doubleday edition, translated by Michael Meyer.

      Author Biography

      Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828, in Skien, Norway, to a wealthy family. However, in 1834, Ibsen’s family lost its money when the family business failed. When he was fifteen, Ibsen left school to work as a pharmacist’s assistant, although he eventually tried to get admitted to Christiania University. When he failed the entrance exams, Ibsen turned his attention to writing and wrote his first play, Cataline, in 1850. At this point, Ibsen’s work was relatively unknown, so he

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