Henrik Ibsen

Pillars of Society Henrik Ibsen

The Pillars of Society (or "Pillars of the Community," as the RSC has performed it; original Norwegian title: Samfundets støtter) is an 1877 play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen had great trouble with the writing of this play which came before the series of masterpieces which made him famous throughout the world. The ending is the most criticised feature, since Bernick is clearly guilty of attempted murder but gets off unscathed, but successfully illustrates that the rich and powerful are often selfish and corrupt. Ibsen first planned a contemporary drama at the end of 1869 but did not begin the writing until October 1875 (in Munich), completing it in the summer of 1877. It was first published on 11 October of that year in Copenhagen, with the first stagings following on 14 November at the Odense Teater and on 18 November at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. The first performance in Norway was at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen on 30 November. By this date, the play had been translated into German, in which it was immediately well received. In December 1880 in London it became the first of any of Ibsen's plays to be performed in English (under the title Quicksands).