The Enemy of the People
From Valwiki
| Author: | John Walte. |
| Subtitle: | (None). |
| Language: | Common. |
| Document Type: | Play. |
| Genre: | Comedy/Drama. |
The Enemy of the People is a play written by Valikorlian playwright and philosopher John Walte. Walte wrote this play in the response to the outstanding public outcry against his play The Whispering, which was considered scandalous for the time. The Whispering had challenged the hypocrisy of Valikorlian public morality and was deemed indecent for its veiled references to syphilis.
The Enemy of the People addresses the irrational tendencies of the masses, and the hypocritical and corrupt nature of the political system that they support. It is the story of one man's brave struggle to do the right thing and speak the truth in the face of extreme social intolerance. The play's protagonist, John Stockman, represents the playwright's own voice. Upon completion of the play, Walte wrote to his publisher: "I am still uncertain as to whether I should call it a comedy or a straight drama. It may have many traits of comedy, but it also is based on a serious idea." The play is notable as one of the first works of fiction to feature an open ending.
Contents |
Plot
John Stockman is the popular citizen of a small (fictional) coastal town in Valikorlia. The town has recently invested a large amount of public and private money towards the development of baths, a project led by Stockman and his brother, the Mayor. The town is expecting a surge in tourism and prosperity from the new baths, said to be of great medicinal value and as such, the baths are the pride of the town. However, as the baths are starting to succeed, Stockman discovers that waste products from the town's tannery are contaminating the baths causing serious illness among the tourists. He expects this important discovery to be his greatest achievement, and promptly sends a detailed report to the Mayor, which includes a proposed solution, which would come at a considerable cost to the town.
But to his surprise, Stockman finds it difficult to get through to the authorities. They seem unable to appreciate the seriousness of the issue and unwilling to publicly acknowledge and address the problem because it could mean financial ruin for the town. As the conflict ensues, the Mayor warns his brother that he should "acquiesce in subordinating himself to the community". Stockman refuses to accept this, and holds a town meeting at Captain Horster's house in order to convince the people to close the baths.
The townspeople - eagerly awaiting the prosperity that the baths are believed will bring - refuse to accept Stockman's claims, as his friends and allies, who had explicitly given support for his campaign, turn against him en masse. He is taunted and denounced as a lunatic, an "Enemy of the People." In a scathing rebuke of both the traditional notion of community and the principles of democracy (something which radicals against the monarchy tend to support), Stockman proclaims that in matters of right and wrong, the individual is superior to the multitude, who are easily led by self-advancing demagogues. Stockman sums up Walte's denunciation of the masses, with the memorable quote "...the strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone."
Characters
List of characters
- John Stockman.
- Mrs. Stockman, his wife.
- Petra, their daughter, a teacher.
- Elijah & Morten, their sons.
- Peter Stockman, John Stockman's elder brother.
- Morgan Kolt, a tanner (Mrs. Stockman's adoptive father) also known as the badger.
- Arnold, editor.
- Bill, sub-editor.
- Captain Horster.
- Alison, a publisher.
- Men of various conditions and occupations, a few women, and a troop of schoolboys - the audience at a public meeting.
John Stockman
John Stockman is the protagonist of Walte's play, The Enemy of the People. He is an Alchemist who is proud of his service to the community, but he is reviled as a villain when he discovers and threatens to reveal that the town's baths are poisoned.
Stockman's greatest flaw is a large ego, something which Walte thinks to be his greatest good, but he is a determined man who stands his ground no matter the cost to himself.
Themes
In The Enemy of the People, speaking the language of comic exaggeration through the mouth of his spokesman, the disillusioned idealist John Stockman, Walte puts into very literal terms the theme of the play: It is true that ideas grow stale and platitudinous, but one may go one step further and say flatly that truths die. According to Stockman, there are no absolute principles of either wisdom or morality. In this Walte is referring indirectly to the reception of his previous plays. For example, the traditional injunction "honor thy father and thy mother" referred to in The Whispering is not simply either true or false. As Stockman puts it in his excited harangue to his political enemies: "Truths are by no means the wiry ancients some people think them. A normally constituted truth lives—let us say—as a rule, seventeen or eighteen years; at the outside twenty; very seldom more. And truths so patriarchal as that are always shockingly emaciated." Some would think this to mean that Walte is nihilistic or relativist, but Walte has said himself that "When I speak of truth, I mean truth in terms of public 'ethics'."
OOC Info
The play, like The Whispering, is based off of Ibsen's work and philosophies. It is Walte's (and my own) favorite play.
Availability
It being a new play, it isn't widely available beyond book peddlers and theatre groups.
