Classics are often read and often updated. Recently re-reading the Norwegian drama master Ibsen's famous play "Enemy of the People", I paid special attention to the role of Petra, who is the daughter of the protagonist of the play, Dr. Stokeman, although not the protagonist of the play, the number of appearances is not much, but it is an indispensable role, because when her father became the "enemy of the people" in order to promote the renovation of the city's baths, it was she who firmly sided with her father and became a strong spiritual pillar of his father. I think that if this play is put on the stage, the actors can play this role well, and they will definitely shine on the stage.
"Dad, don't put up with this"
"Enemy of the People" is about the contradictions and conflicts that occurred in a city on the south coast of Norway over the reconstruction of the baths. The bathing medical officer Stokeman has a happy little family, the couple has a daughter and two sons, the daughter Petra, who has become a teacher, is the eldest in the family, she inherits from her father the excellent qualities of fairness, integrity and independent thinking, and is particularly unaccustomed to the lies and deceptions that are popular in society. "Home and school are hypocritical. No one is allowed to speak at home, and people are forced to lie to their children at school. "If I had money, I'd run my own school, and the method would be completely different."
Stokeman's apparently peaceful life was interrupted by an unexpected discovery: since last year he had found that several of his convalescent patients had typhus with gastritis, and he suspected that there was a problem with the water in the baths, so he took samples of the local water and seawater and sent them to the university for examination by a chemical expert. In the first act of the story, there are various guests in Stockmann's house, including Hofstar, editor-in-chief of the People's Pioneer, Bi Ling, a newspaper clerk, Peter, the doctor's brother, mayor and chairman of the bathing committee, the doctor's good friend and captain Horst, and the father of the doctor's wife, the tannery owner Kiel, and the printing house owner Aslaksen, who are talked about to be important people who are about to appear. During this process, the doctor's daughter Petra came on to bring her father a letter, which was the doctor's eagerly awaited water test report. The doctors had objected to the erroneous construction when the construction of the baths had begun, but the Peters had not listened, and now he had finally been proven correct: the dirty water flowing into the pipes from the mill ditch in Kiel contained a large number of germs, poisoned the baths, and turned the baths into a "nest of infectious diseases".
Stockmann was ready to publish his findings in the People's Vanguard and asked for the baths to be rebuilt. But as soon as this remark came out, it immediately exploded in society. Hofstadter, editor-in-chief of the People's Vanguard, and Aslaksen, a majority representative, all said they would firmly side with him. He himself believes that his proposal is for the sake of a better future for the city, and deserves everyone's thanks and rewards. But I didn't expect that the first person to oppose him was his mayoral brother Peter. Peter believed that the reconstruction of the baths would cost a lot of money and take two years, which would inevitably deal a heavy blow to the city's economic prosperity, so he only agreed to a small-scale renovation of the baths, so he asked his brother Stockmann to re-investigate and publish a report, telling the public that the situation was not so serious. His reason for asking his brother to do so was that "the individual should be subordinate to society, or more specifically, the individual should be subordinated to the authorities that take care of the interests of society." "If the younger brother does not do as he says, then the municipality will publish such a report itself and will dismiss the medical officer of the younger brother's bath."
Then, under the mayor's soft and hard hand, the People's Vanguard, which originally supported Stockmann, and the majority representative Aslaxon, gradually stood against him out of their own interests. Stokeman, facing the threat of unemployment, did not give in, firmly believing that "truth is more important than anything else.". When the mayor's brother accused his brother of "wanting to cut off the lifeblood of prosperity in his hometown, and saying that he loves his hometown" and asked him, "I am your superior, and I must not disobey my orders", Stockmann insisted that "I am a doctor, a scientist, and I will tell the truth on any question." ”
At this time, her daughter Petra gave firm support to Stockmann under heavy pressure. Hearing Uncle Da's reprimand to her father, she blurted out "Daddy, don't bear this tone" and reprimanded Uncle Da, "Uncle, it's a shame that you treated my dad with this kind of means!" ”
Faced with a lot of pressure, Stockmann said to his wife and children, "Children, even if the earth is broken, I will never bow my head and give in." "In the future, when the children grow up, I will have to have a face to see them."
"Dad, you can rest assured, I will definitely help you"
The climax of the play is the fourth act, in which Stockmann decides to give a speech at the Civic Assembly to "let everyone hear the voice of truth", but due to the manipulation of the mayor and others, he not only did not have the opportunity to publish his report, but was voted by the Citizens' Assembly as the "Enemy of the People".
After this battle, the indignant Stockmann realized that this was no longer just a matter of sewers and running water, but had become a "problem of washing away the whole society", and found that "all the sources of our spiritual life are polluted, and our entire social institutions are based on hypocrisy". He shouted fiercely, "Yes, because I love my hometown so much that I would rather destroy it than watch it flourish by deception." "What's the point of destroying a city of lying and cheating!" It's no shame to step it flat! Anyone who lives by deception should be wiped out like a pest! If you continue like this, the whole country will be poisoned, and one day the country will perish. If there is such a day, I honestly and unceremoniously say: the country is destroyed, the people are destroyed, they all deserve it! "I'm going to bring down the lie that truth belongs to the majority!"
In addition to receiving the title of "enemy of the people", the medical officer of the Stokeman Baths was dismissed, the landlord did not dare to rent a house for them anymore, the teachership of his daughter Petra was also dismissed, and the captain Horst, who had always supported them, could not become the captain. What to do? He plans to take his family away from the city to the New World to start a new life. At this time, what he was most worried about was not to live a hard life in the future, but "what I was most anxious about was that I was afraid that in the future there would be no free will and people with high morals would continue my business." Fortunately, however, he did not leave after the rebellion, and he received the firmest support from his wife and children, especially his daughter Petra, who could uphold the truth. In the end, he decided not to stay, "the battlefield is here, the battle is fought here." "He wouldn't let his two sons go to school, he would teach them himself." I want to teach you to be free and noble. It was daughter Petra who stood up in time: "Daddy, you can rest assured, I will definitely help you." "The two of them decided to start a school and recruit a few more children, even wild children on the street." I'm going to do an experiment on these wild children, and sometimes there may be special varieties. ”
Petra was arguably the best gift from Heaven to Stokeman, and of course it was the result of his education. It is with Petra,
Stokeman became an optimist again, because he saw new hope from the younger generation, and it was only then that he finally had the courage to shout the words: "Now I am the most powerful man in the city!" He kept his motto: Never bow to lies and deception.
The Enemy of the People was published in 1882. At a time when Ibsen was under siege for the publication of "Doll's House" and "Ghost in the Crowd", some people scolded him as an "enemy of the people". It can be said that "The Enemy of the People" is Ibsen's counterattack against the enemy.
From Stockmann we can see Ibsen's shadow. Ibsen once said, "Dr. Stockmann and I got along very well, and we were so compatible in many places." The good girl Petra represents the light of hope for the younger generation, so Stockmann and Ibsen are not alone, as evidenced by the growing recognition of Ibsen's plays around the world.
Ibsen said: "For me, reading a script can produce the same effect as watching a performance. "May every imaginative reader have the same happiness."
(Qilu Evening News, Qilu One Point reporter Huang Tijun)
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