Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (1867)

This week, we leap into the wildly imaginative and darkly philosophical dramatic poem, Peer Gynt (1867), by the Norwegian master Henrik Ibsen. The story follows the title character, Peer Gynt, a charming, boastful, and utterly self-centered young man who flees his responsibilities and embarks on a lifelong, globe-trotting journey defined by fantasy, self-deception, and the constant avoidance of commitment. . We trace Peer's episodic, dream-like adventures, from his early life as a poetic liar in the Norwegian mountains to his encounters with the monstrous King of the Trolls (whose creed is "to thyself be sufficient"), his time as a prophet, a businessman, and a wealthy adventurer in Africa, and his eventual return home as an old man who has failed to find his true self. The play culminates in Peer's desperate confrontation with the mysterious Button-Moulder, who threatens to melt him down for lacking a coherent, authentic core. The Idylls are a profound and searching satire on the nature of identity and the danger of living life as a series of roles, leaving the audience to question whether Peer Gynt ever truly became anything more than the collection of shells he cast off along the way.