Characters and summary of plot - The League of Youth

Characters in The League of Youth

Chamberlain Brattsberg, an ironmaster
Erik Brattsberg, his son, a lawyer and business man
Thora, his daughter
Selma, Erik's wife
Dr. Fjeldbo, the works' doctor 
Stensgaard, a lawyer
Mons Monsen, of Storli, a landowner
Bastian Monsen, his son
Ragna, his daughter
Helle, tutor at Storli
Ringdal, works' manager
Anders Lundestad, a farmer
Daniel Hejre
Mrs. Rundholmen, a tradesman's widow
Aslaksen, a printer
A maidservant in the Chamberlain's household
A waiter
A servant girl at Mrs. Rundholmen's
The general public, the Chamberlain's guests, etc. etc.

Source: The Oxford Ibsen, Volume IV, Oxford University Press 1963

Summary of plot

Stensgård, a solicitor, is an ambitious young man hoping for a political career in a small Norwegian town. On the 17th of May, Constitution Day, he makes a flaming political speech attacking the owner of the local iron-works, Chamberlain Bratsberg. Stensgård announces that he intends to start a new, radical party, the League of Youth. Bratsberg believes that the attacks in the speech are directed against his rival and opponent, Monsen, a landowner. So to begin with, Stensgård is a welcome guest in Bratsberg's home.

Stensgård has been courting Monsen's daughter Ragna, but now decides he would like to marry Bratsberg's daughter Thora instead. He offers Bratsberg a handsome public apology, but the latter is outraged and shows him the door.

When Stensgård finds out that Bratsberg's son Erik has forged a paper with his father's signature in order to obtain money for some risky business enterprises with Monsen, he pays renewed attention to Ragna, planning to propose to her. But as Monsen also risks being involved in the scandal surrounding these enterprises, Stensgård proposes to a rich widow, Madame Rundholmen, to be on the safe side.

It turns out, however, that only Monsen, and not Bratsberg, has been involved in the forgery, so Stensgård again turns his attention to Thora and plans to propose to her. But she has lost interest in him, and Madame Rundholmen, on account of a mislaid loveletter, has chosen to become engaged to Monsen's son, Bastian. The result is that Stensgård is left without any prospective partner in marriage, and he leaves the town. Everything is now back where it was, except that the town is now blessed with several newly-engaged, happy couples.

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