Reimagining Ibsen’s Whistleblower: A Comparative Study of Arthur Miller, Satyajit Ray, and Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Adaptations of An Enemy of the People

Abstract

This study aims to explore the ways three adaptations of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People—Arthur Miller’s 1950 theatrical adaptation, Satyajit Ray’s Ganashatru (1990), and Erik Skjoldbjærg’s En folkefiende (2005)—deviate from the original, particularly in their endings and the transformation of the Ibsenite protagonist, Dr. Thomas Stockmann. Methodologically, the study employs a comparative critical analysis of the original play and its three adaptations, focusing on variations in the protagonist’s tone and temperament without intersecting with popular theoretical approaches to the play. The analysis reveals that the remarkable digressions in these adaptations are driven by the socio-cultural and politico-economic contexts of their respective productions. Miller’s adaptation reflects 1950s America facing McCarthyism, Ray’s film responds to growing political awareness and youth activism in 1990s West Bengal, while Skjoldbjærg’s version emerges from the neoliberal context of early twenty-first-century Norway. These diverse historical frameworks produce noteworthy variations in the final scenarios and peculiar versions of Dr. Stockmann. The study concludes that socio-political contexts stimulate the transformation of Ibsen’s protagonist across disparate cultural and historical settings, thereby contributing to adaptation studies.