Early Plays by Henrik Ibsen – Catiline, The Warrior’s Barrow, Olaf Liljekrans

Author: Henrik Ibsen

Published: 1921

Genre: Comedy, Historical, Romance

Synopsis

Ibsen’s early plays are not as well-known as his later works but are important for understanding his artistic development. Catiline, his debut work, was written while he was still a pharmacist’s apprentice in Grimstad. Its titular hero is the Roman senator infamous for conspiring with other aristocrats to overthrow the consulship of Cicero. Ibsen’s second work, The Warrior’s Barrow, also commonly known as The Burial Mound, depicts the brutal lives of the Vikings and the conflict between Christianity and paganism. Olaf Liljekrans marked a step in a new direction. Blending satire and romance, it tells the tale of a groom who runs away to escape a marriage of convenience.