Previous
Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in An Enemy of the People, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power and Public Opinion
Truth and the Media
Women, Family, and Duty
Individualism vs. Authority
Class Systems
Summary
Analysis
The scene opens in Dr. Stockmann’s dining room, an unassuming but well-furnished chamber with doors leading to the hall and the doctor’s study. The dining table is full of disorderly plates, as if the family has just finished a meal. Billing, the town newspaper’s sub-editor, is sitting at the table while Katherine Stockmann apologizes that she only has leftovers to offer him. Billing compliments her on her cooking and says he enjoys eating alone.
In this opening paragraph, male and female spheres are both mingled and distinct. Dr. Stockmann brings his politically-involved friends and their discussions into his home, but at the same time it’s clear that Katherine’s duty is not to participate but to provide food and company.
Themes
The doorbell rings. Both Katherine and Billing assume that the newspaper’s editor, Hovstad, has arrived, but instead Peter Stockmann—the town mayor and Dr. Stockmann’s brother—appears. Katherine welcomes him in warmly, but he responds to her greetings stiffly and seems put out to find Billing at the table. Saying that his digestion is bad, he refuses offers of food and drink and brusquely asks to talk to the doctor, who is out for a walk with his young sons.
Even though Peter Stockmann is a member of the family, he clearly doesn’t feel as comfortable in the house as Billing. This passage establishes his character as stiff and dictatorial and hints at the sibling tensions that will later prove crucial to the play.
Themes
A knock is heard at the door, and Hovstad enters, greeting Peter “distantly” and saying he’s come to discuss an article Dr. Stockmann has written for the liberal newspaper, the People’s Messenger. Disapprovingly, Peter says that he understands why his brother writes for the people with whom he finds “the readiest sympathy,” and he pompously praises the town’s “excellent spirit of toleration.” He says that the ability to live in harmony regardless of individual views comes from the newly constructed baths, which will provide benefits to everyone and will soon become the focus of town life.
Given that Peter already seems unsympathetic, it’s easy to interpret his distaste for the newspaper as a point in the paper’s favor, but this impression will be seriously undermined later in the play. In fact, Peter’s assertion that writing for the media is a matter of courting public opinion and political advantage will actually prove cannier than Dr. Stockmann’s idealistic conception of the newspaper’s role in society.
Themes
Hovstad concurs, even adding that Dr. Stockmann’s article is in praise of the baths—something that evidently surprises Peter. Hovstad adds that Dr. Stockmann is so devoted to the baths because it was his idea to construct them in the first place, but Peter takes issue with this assertion, saying sarcastically that he “took a modest part in the enterprise.”
Peter has said that the baths draw everyone in the community together—but clearly, working together to build them has driven him and his brother apart. Just as the baths will illuminate flaws in the community, they are at the heart of the brothers’ differences.
Themes
Get the entire An Enemy of the People LitChart as a printable PDF.
Seeking to make peace, Katherine points out that Dr. Stockmann always gives his brother due credit. She ushers Hovstad into the dining room to eat something, and as he leaves Peter gripes that “these farmers’ sons never seem to lose their want of tact.” Katherine urges him to “share the credit” for the baths “as brothers,” but Peter suggests that Dr. Stockmann is eager to take more than his share.
Even though no one considers Katherine fit to participate in political discourse, she intuits that it’s in her husband’s best interest to be on good terms with Peter, and she accordingly acts on his behalf. This shows that Katherine is much more attuned to matters of public life than others give her credit for.
Themes
Dr. Stockmann, in good spirits, arrives at the door, accompanied by Captain Horster and the two young boys, Ejlif and Morten. Katherine points out Peter’s presence and Dr. Stockmann greets his brother warmly, although with some reservation. He invites him in to share a hot drink, but Peter refuses, hinting that Dr. Stockmann is spending more than he should on entertaining guests with food and drink. Dr. Stockmann brushes off these assertions, saying that after spending so much time working in a remote village to the north, he needs to enjoy the comparative luxury of life in a town. He asks if the postman has come by, but Katherine responds that he hasn’t.
Dr. Stockmann’s “extravagant” expenses establish him as a warmer and more generous person than his brother. Although as mayor Peter claims to stand for the community, it’s actually Dr. Stockmann who cultivates a circle of friends around him. However, this also suggests that he’s incautious and often neglects to plan for the future – characteristics Peter will exploit in their upcoming feud.
Themes
Peter Stockmann mentions that he’s heard about his brother’s upcoming article in praise of the baths, but Dr. Stockmann surprises him by saying he doesn’t want to publish it right now; he hints that there may be some new development that will change his opinion of the baths. Peter immediately becomes frustrated, saying that his brother has no right to keep him, the Chairman of the Baths Committee, in the dark. He chastises Dr. Stockmann for his “ingrained tendency take [his] own way,” saying that individuals should submit to communal authorities in all matters.
In this framing moment of the struggle between Peter’s authority and Dr. Stockmann’s individualism, both brothers have valid grievances. Peter’s suggestion that Dr. Stockmann should give up individual thought and meekly parrot the authorities seems absurd and self-serving (since he himself is the authority in question); on the other hand, it does seem like Dr. Stockmann has taken an important matter completely into his own hands, snubbing the other men with whom he’s supposed to be working.
Themes
Peter abruptly departs, leaving Dr. Stockmann surprised by his sudden fit of bad temper; Katherine sighs, softly asking what her husband has said wrong this time. All the remaining men congregate, conjecturing that Peter has probably left because he couldn’t stand fraternizing with the staff of the People’s Messenger. Katherine brings a hot toddy, and Dr. Stockmann sends the boys to fetch his cigars. Katherine questions Dr. Horster about his upcoming sea voyage, which will take him away from town just before the upcoming elections. Captain Horster says he never pays attention to politics and never votes. Billing chastises him for his lack of communal engagement, but the captain mildly points out unless they are highly informed about political affairs, people shouldn’t vote; if they behaved this way on a ship, it wouldn’t work out very well.
Throughout the play, Captain Horster will be an important but enigmatic character. As shown here, he has no political loyalties; but while Billing sees this as a lack of moral convictions, Horster will ultimately prove the Stockmanns’ bravest and most principled friend. His assertion that people who don’t know much about politics ought not to vote reflects a wisdom and humility about his ability to participate constructively in government – qualities which, Ibsen will argue, everyone else in his community conspicuously lacks.
Themes
Just as Hovstad is bringing up the article, Petra Stockmann arrives home from her job as a schoolteacher, giving her father a letter. Dr. Stockmann is agitated by its arrival but runs into his study to open to it without telling anyone what’s inside. Hovstad asks about Petra’s job, which she loves even though it occupies most of her time and energy. Morten pipes up that Petra must be “dreadfully wicked,” as his teacher has told him that only sinners have to work hard. The adults chuckle, and Billing suggests that Morten should become a “pagan” like him; then he can do whatever he wants.
Petra’s entrance underlines the differences between her generation and her mother’s. Unlike Katherine, she has a job and earns her own income. While her mother serves the men food, Petra talks to them as an equal about her work. Billing’s glib remark to Morten suggests that he conceives of himself as an iconoclastic radical – an image which, as later events will show, is laughably far from true.
Themes
Disliking this turn of conversation and not wanting the boys to question their teachers, Katherine sends them to bed. Petra gently argues with her, saying that “there is so much falsehood both at home and at school” and lamenting that she has to teach her children so many things that she doesn’t herself believe; she wishes she could start a school according to her own principles.
Petra’s education and relative emancipation allows her to question social norms that her mother has been conditioned to accept. Her desire to start a school based on truthfulness and individualism foreshadows the ending of the play.
Themes
Dr. Stockmann returns, waving his letter triumphantly and saying he’s made “a great discovery.” The others beg him to reveal it; with much fanfare, he announces that, while everyone believes the expensive new baths are a health cure for invalids, they’re actually a “pesthouse” filled with bacteria from nearby tanneries. Dr. Stockmann first began to suspect something was amiss when he witnessed sickness among bath visitors the last summer, so he privately sent water samples for testing at the nearest university. Now it’s proven that the water is dangerous to use.
This is the fateful discovery which will transform Dr. Stockmann’s position in the town. While Dr. Stockmann’s findings are seemingly disastrous, he’s excited to announce them, suggesting that his desire for acclaim and attention has played a significant role in his investigations. It’s also notable that the rhetoric of contamination (like the word “pesthouse”) which, in this moment, only applies to the water will soon be extended to the entire society.
Themes
Hovstad and Katherine praise the doctor, who accepts their words complacently. He says that the situation must be “put right” even though repairs will be costly and “there will be a nice upset in the town.” Petra points out that this discovery vindicates her father’s earlier argument that the baths’ conduit pipes should have been laid much higher up—a proposal which was rejected by the rest of the Baths Committee. He orders the maid to take the report straight to Peter.
Dr. Stockmann demonstrates both a desire to help his town and an obliviousness to its practical circumstances—for example, he doesn’t understand how disastrous these repairs will turn out to be. Petra’s remark about the previous argument suggests that Dr. Stockmann undertook his investigations in part because of a personal grievance against the Baths Committee, although as a loyal daughter she doesn’t see it that way.
Themes
Petra wonders how Peter will respond, and Dr. Stockmann replies that he will be “glad that such an important truth has been brought to light.” Hovstad and Billing announce their intention to cover the discovery in the newspaper, and say that Dr. Stockmann will soon be “the foremost man in town.” Dr. Stockmann responds that he won’t accept any public displays of gratitude, not even if the Baths Committee wants to raise his salary. Everyone gathers around the doctor and toasts his health, while he picks Katherine up and twirls her around.
Dr. Stockmann’s prediction of Peter’s reaction will soon emerge as completely wrong; as in many other moments, his words mirror his own desires rather than a concrete grasp of reality. Hovstad and Billing’s flattery encourages the doctor to succumb to daydreams of acclaim and increased salaries, but their professed admiration will turn out to be worth very little.
Themes
