How did Henrik Ibsen contribute to the growth of modern American Drama?

 He is the creator of the modern and realistic prose drama. One of the first writers to make drama a vehicle for social comment and also one of the only 19th century dramatists to explore topics that were considered socially unacceptable.

Ibsen is regarded as the greatest and most influential dramatist of the 19th century. Born in Skein. Norway in the mid 1830’s. His father, a once successful merchant, went bankrupt. Ibsen, uncomfortable in new surroundings and stung by poverty and social rejection, he turned to writing poetry in his spare time.

Having already written two plays, in the following years, his talent as a playwright continued to blossom. A Doll’s House (1879) aroused controversy because it portrayed a woman whose actions were not considered acceptable at the time. As the 19th century wound to a close, Ibsen continued to write prolifically. 

In 1900, Ibsen suffered the first of a series of strokes that almost completely incapacitated him. When Ibsen died in 1906, it was already clear that he had made a major impact on the theatre. However, the tremendous extent of his impact did not become apparent until later in the 20th century, when it became obvious that Ibsen had completely altered the direction of the theatre.

Ibsen sought to depict life accurately by delving into the types of conflicts and dilemmas that he viewed to be characteristic of the time:

• He focused on situations that could happen in real life.

• He patterned his dialogue after real-life conversations.

• His characters sometimes speak in incomplete sentences, express incomplete thoughts, change their train of thought in mid-sentence, and interrupt one another.

Ibsen revolutionized the way in which plays were staged by introducing elaborate, detailed sets that often changed from act to act. In his stage directions, he offers a precise description of how the set should appear, as well as how the lighting should be used. Not only does he use scenery, props, and lighting to contribute to the realistic quality of his plays. He also frequently uses these elements as symbols. Ibsen uses stage directions to instruct actors about how they should interpret certain lines of dialogue.

He wrote two plays, Catiline, a tragedy, which reflected the atmosphere of the revolutionary year of 1848, and The Burial Mound, written under the pseudonym of Brynjolf Bjarme. Ibsen staged more than 150 plays, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the techniques of professional theatrical performances. In addition to his managerial work he also wrote four plays based on Norwegian folklore and history, notably Lady inger of Ostrat (1855). dealing with the liberation of medieval Norway. In 1852 his theatre sent him on a study tour to Denmark and Germany. Ibsen himself considered The Emperor and the Galilean (1873) his most important play. Ibsen’s dramatic conventions have been widely adopted by a number of dramatists in European world countridsming

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