Die Stützen der Gesellschaft

The Pillars of Society, premiered in 1877, is the first of the plays in which Ibsen addresses social and ethical issues of the bourgeois-capitalist society that was developing in Norway at the time. This also gives rise to a new dramatic genre, the social-critical drama. The play is set in a small coastal town that relies on shipping for its livelihood. The central character is Consul Bernick, a shipowner and entrepreneur whose economic success is based on lies and deception. When a scandal threatens to be revealed, he is even willing to commit murder. "And you call yourselves the pillars of society!" Bernick: "Society has no better.".