Characters and summary of plot - An Enemy of the People

Characters in An Enemy of the People

Dr. Thomas Stockmann, doctor at the Baths
Mrs. Katherine Stockmann, his wife
Petra, their daughter, a teacher
Ejlif and Morten, their sons, 13 and 10 years old
Peter Stockmann, the doctor's elder brother, Mayor, Chief of Police, Chairman of the Board of the Baths, &c.
Morten Kiil, owner of a tannery, Mrs. Stockmann's foster-father
Hovstad, editor of the People's Herald
Billing, a journalist
Captain Horster
Aslaksen, a printer
Attending a public meeting are: men of all classes, some women and a group of schoolboys

Source: The Oxford Ibsen, Volume VI, Oxford University Press 1960

Summary of plot

Tomas Stockmann is the father of a family and a doctor at a spa in a small Norwegian town. After a lengthy period of analysis he has discovered that the water of the spa that he himself had founded is polluted, and of great danger to the health of all its visitors. The spa is of great importance to the fame and prosperity of the town, but he is convinced that it must be closed until the fault is corrected. To begin with he is praised for his discovery, but when it becomes clear that the improvements will cost the town a great deal, both the press and the inhabitants turn against him. One of his most important opponents is his brother, who is mayor and chief of police, Peter Stockmann. From several quarters the doctor is asked to moderate his absolute demand that the spa be closed, but he calls a public meeting in order to present his case. It has now become the general opinion that the majority is always wrong and the minority always right. The people present at the meeting brand him as an enemy of the people and a threat to the town, and he is forced to leave the meeting. The whole affair has dramatic consequences for his family and himself – his patients desert him, he is dismissed from the spa, his daughter Petra loses her job as a teacher and the family lose their home. His first reaction, in rage and disappointment, is to plan to go abroad with his family, but when people start to break his windows and he receives sinister threats and offers, he realizes how little independence of mind there is in the town. He decides to stay there and devote himself to the task of bringing up citizens with a freer spirit.

Source: Merete Morken Andersen, Ibsenhåndboken, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1995