Peer Gynt

Ibsen wrote Peer Gynt in 1867. Since that time, it has been translated and produced all over the world. In your own time and place, what themes do you think are particularly relevant? What might you emphasize for an audience of your peers?

For a 21st-century audience, the portrayal of women in Peer Gynt, as well as Peer’s treatment of them, raises some issues. What critiques do you have of the play’s representation of women? What are positive aspects of the representations? How might you “fix” it to make the play more palatable to today’s audiences?

Throughout the play, Peer seeks to understand what it means to be true to oneself. What do you think the play ultimately says about identification and the concept of the self? Use evidence from the text to back your claims.