Peer Gynt

Henrik Ibsen wrote Peer Gynt in the summer of 1867 as he traveled through Italy. One of Ibsen’s earliest plays, the work is based on the fairy tale Per Gynt and reflects the influence of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen’s Norwegian Folktales, which had just been published, as well as elements from his own family and biography. Ibsen would eventually come to be known as the Father of Realism through his more famous works, such as A Doll’s House (1879) and Hedda Gabler (1891). However, Peer Gynt mixes elements of fantasy and myth into a proto-existentialist tale about a man’s search for self in a style that differs entirely from his later plays. Ibsen grew up relatively poor. He impregnated a housemaid, supporting the child financially but not taking part in his life. He failed the entrance exam to attend university and become a doctor, and instead wrote his first play when he was twenty years old. Ibsen left his parents behind forever at age twenty-two, becoming one of the most influential figures in the development of both Norwegian drama and the development of Western theatre.