Each of the plays in this volume arrived onstage to loud cries of derision and bafflement. In some cases they were deemed downright dangerous, incurring the wrath of the censors and the morals police. In others, they were satirized into submission: one London response to the erotic violence of Hedda Gab/erwas a racy burlesque titled"Go A Hedda." After watching The Master Builder, some reviewers decided, charitably enough, that Ibsen's characters, and the author himself, must simply be insane. As one critic wrote, unconsciously echoing Hedda Gabler's Judge Brack, there could be no other explanation, since "people simply don't do such things."

Each of the plays in this volume arrived onstage to loud cries of derision and bafflement. In some cases they were deemed downright dangerous, incurring the wrath of the censors and the morals police. In others, they were satirized into submission: one London response to the erotic violence of Hedda Gab/erwas a racy burlesque titled"Go A Hedda." After watching The Master Builder, some reviewers decided, charitably enough, that Ibsen"s characters, and the author himself, must simply be insane. As one critic wrote, unconsciously echoing Hedda Gabler"s Judge Brack, there could be no other explanation, since "people simply don"t do such things." At the same time, Ibsen won fervent admirers who were willing to risk their money, reputations, and professional lives to translate and produce his works. Some of these included writers who would themselves become famous, notorious, or both, including August Strindberg, Henry James, George Bernard Shaw, and James Joyce.

INTRODUCTION
CHRONOLOGY OF HENRIK IBSEN"S
LIFE AND WORK
HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF IBSEN"S PLAYS
A DOLL"S HOUSE
THE WILD DUCK
HEDDA GABLER
THE MASTER BUILDER
NOTES
INTERPRETIVE NOTES
CRITICAL EXCERPTS
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE
INTERESTED READER