The Enlightenment Under Trial: A Look at the Play An Enemy of the People

This essay examines the reception of Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People in Iran, where it has attracted more readers and more television and theatre audiences than most of his other works. The author argues that a widespread admiring view of the play's protagonist, found among audiences, critics, and directors alike, reflects one-sided readings rooted in the romantic idealization of heroes. The essay contends that this kind of naive hero-worship is precisely the attitude Ibsen viewed with skepticism, and that such readings therefore miss or distort the playwright's own intentions.