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An Enemy of the People portrays a Norwegian town that has just built, at great expense, a complex of baths that will attract visitors and invalids (at the time, thermal baths were thought to cure a variety of illnesses) and turn the town into a wealthy tourist destination. In the play’s first scene, Dr. Thomas Stockmann discovers that the water in the baths is fundamentally contaminated by chemicals from nearby tanneries. At first, this seems to be a purely scientific problem, easily fixed by repairs. However, as the baths are so firmly linked with the town’s collective goals and hopes for itself, this contamination becomes an indication of public character. Dr. Stockmann finds that those around him are hostile to his findings and indeed willing to let visitors be poisoned in order to preserve the town’s money-making enterprise; these people, he decides, are as corrupt as the water he’s studied. At the end of the play, Dr. Stockmann announces that his scientific discovery was only the prelude to a more important moral one, that the unfettered power of the majority is the source of all social contamination. In his words, the baths become a physical symbol of what he sees as the town’s moral lapses.
The Baths Quotes in An Enemy of the People
The An Enemy of the People quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Baths. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act III
Quotes
Mr. Aslaksen: I am a man with a conscience, and that is the whole matter. If you attack the government, you don’t do the community any harm, anyway; those fellows pay no attention to attacks, you see—they go on just as they are, in spite of them. But local authorities are different; they can be turned out, and then perhaps you may get an ignorant lot into office who may do irreparable harm to the householders and everybody else.
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Peter Stockmann. The proprietors of the Baths are not in a position to incur any further expense.
Aslaksen. Is that absolutely certain, Mr. Mayor?
Peter Stockmann. I have satisfied myself that it is so. If the town wants these very extensive alterations, it will have to pay for them.
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The Baths Symbol Timeline in An Enemy of the People
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Baths appears in An Enemy of the People. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act I
...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.
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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...
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...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...
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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;...
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...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...
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...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...
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...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,...
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Act II
...arrives. He takes Dr. Stockmann aside and says that, after considering the matter of the baths overnight, he’s realized its not an isolated incident; the “morass” of chemicals infecting the water...
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...costs of the doctor’s proposed repairs and found them to be astronomical; even worse, the baths would have to close for two years, which would cause the town to lose money...
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...Dr. Stockmann should simply treat people who fall ill; over the course of years, the baths committee can make subtle repairs to shift the water source. Dr. Stockmann is outraged and...
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...and hard to work with. After all, it’s Peter who is responsible for championing the baths project and securing his brother’s position on the committee. Even though it was Dr. Stockmann’s...
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...with his brother to understand that any course of action except major repairs to the baths is dangerous and inadequate, but Peter simply responds that “as an officer under the Committee,...
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Act III
...sure to lose supporters, either among the common people or the wealthy shareholders of the baths; then the people will see that the Liberals ought to control all municipal affairs.
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...is disturbed by their fiery rhetoric, saying that he hopes the doctor won’t destroy the baths entirely. Hovstad turns the subject to the report, which he praises for being intelligible to...
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...the doctor to “proceed with moderation,” but he continues to pontificate that not only the baths but every aspect of public life must be “disinfected.” He thanks Hovstad and Aslaksen for...
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Mr. Aslaksen voices his hope that Dr. Stockmann will stick to the baths, rather than making any broader attacks. Billing complains that Mr. Aslaksen is too timid, but...
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...newspapermen that the common people will have to pay for any potential repairs to the baths through a municipal loan, or tax. Astonished, Hovstad and Aslaksen point out that the men...
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Peter then emphasizes that such extensive repairs will require the baths to close down for two years. Mr. Aslaksen is deeply affronted at this news, asking...
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Act IV
...Aslaksen voices his support for the motion, saying that Dr. Stockmann doesn’t care about the baths but is only interested in “a revolution.” The crowd applauds him. Hovstad pipes up to...
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While he was living far away, Dr. Stockmann conceived a plan for the baths as a way to “be of service to my native town and the good of...
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Act V
Peter curtly presents Dr. Stockmann with a letter dismissing him from his job on the Baths Committee, which he says is due to negative public opinion of him. Furthermore, he informs...
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...Morten says he has “something better” and produces an envelope full of stocks in the baths.
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...he planned to leave his daughter. If Dr. Stockmann retracts his findings and saves the baths, the family will become rich, but if he sticks to his ideas, they’ll be impoverished....
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...if it would be possible for him to treat the water without repairs to the baths. Morten advises him to try “rat’s-bane,” and at this ridiculous suggestion Dr. Stockmann turns on...
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...have concocted the water contamination as a means to buy up cheap stock in the baths. Now that they presume him to be a rich man, they offer to use the...
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...newspaper and the Householders’ Society to return him to power and restore confidence in the baths—in exchange, of course, for the doctor’s financial support. Sarcastically, he asks what they will do...
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