Why do Ibsen’s plays still relate to the modern audience when written over 100 years

ago?

One reason Ibsen’s plays can still be considered relevant to the modern audience could be his discussion and
presentation of themes and issues that are still prevalent in the modern day. Ibsen wanted to show the human
experience and what impacts it within his plays. Rather than just focussing on huge life events such as grief or love-
he focussed on things society views as smaller issues but that can still have a hugely prominent impact on a person
and their experience of life. Some of these themes he tackled include financial troubles, alcoholism and as shown in
both Hedda Gabler and Doll’s house, the oppression of women within society.

Building on from this, although society has moved a lot further towards gender equality since Ibsen’s plays were first
written, it has still not been universally achieved. In many ways, in tackling this issue of gender equality, he was
prophesising changes to come after his era: he was tackling an issue beyond his time. Therefore, this can be a
separate point within itself as to why Ibsen’s plays can still be related to by a modern-day audience. In addition to
this, as women still fight for equality in today’s modern world, the origins of the liberalisation of women is a topic
that is still talked about and relevant in the (although Ibsen would argue he is not a feminist) feminist movement. To
make progress, we must remember and learn from the past.

Henrik Ibsen's play ‘Hedda Gabler’ is indeed still relevant today, especially the character Hedda. While women have
made a great deal of political progress in securing the right to equal employment, education, and other freedoms,
some would argue that women, as well as others, such as minorities, are still subjected to discrimination. In fact,
many would point out that women are still earning less money than men. But it is hard to ignore the play's strong
feminist resonances in a culture where it is blindingly obvious that any woman who puts herself in the public eye will
become a target for abuse. Hedda as a character shows this clearly with her reaction to the oppression and her
inability to achieve the things and behave in the way she wanted due to the societal expectations and limitations. In
many ways, Hedda can be seen to be a victim of the oppression of women which can explain her character’s
frustrated and manipulative behaviour at times. She was a woman before her time which can be seen as why this
play is still relevant to the modern audience.

Another issue Ibsen exposes in his plays is mental health- something which is of rising importance in our current
social condition. With the awareness of mental illness growing at the same time of the number of cases of mental
illness, this issue is something which still requires much coverage. Our society is more and more recognising the
importance of mental health and the impact it can have on the human condition and Ibsen covers this in his plays
way before his time. Because Ibsen’s plays discuss this topic, they are very still very relevant to a modern audience.

An additional factor that can explain why Ibsen’s plays can still be seen as relevant to the modern audience can be
the immense social and political change he lived through in his home country of Norway. This happened after
Norway achieved its independence from Denmark and the recession hit the country after the Napoleonic wars. Here,
Ibsen saw the impact the change within the country had had on its people and could use this to develop his
presentation of the human experience within his plays. In addition to this, his experience of the recession allowed
him to understand the impact of financial crisis on people which then became a theme he explores within his plays.
This theme is still relevant today and could even be classed to be of a higher prevalence within today’s economically
fast paced society.

In conclusion, Ibsen’s repeated tackling of issues beyond his years have resulted in his plays still being recognised a
century after his time. The prevalence of his messages is still something that resonates within society today and the
presentation of the need for societal change is still a matter of importance today. Lastly, because Ibsen’s aim was
always to create an engaging and believable experience for the audience- to give a snapshot of the real life human
experience, I feel this can still be very interesting for a modern audience as although society has under gone much
change, humans have undergone far less, and the things that impact us, in many ways, still remain the same.