Showing results for title "The Master Builder", by author "Henrik Ibsen" in All Categories

Master Builder Halvard Solness is an ageing architect who has not achieved what he wanted, neither in art nor in love. He fears and bullies his juniors, and thinks he is going mad. His wife and mistress try to care for him as best they can, without themselves getting hurt in return. The situation is further fraught by the arrival of young and seductive Hilda Wangel, who also plays a part in Ibsen's previous drama "The Lady from the Sea.

Henrik Ibsen’s play The Master Builder was published in 1892 and performed the next year. The architect and builder Halvard Solness receives a visit from the young Hilda, who persuades him to employ her in the household. When Hilda learns of the completion of Halvard’s project - a tall building with a towering steeple - she makes a point of persuading him to climb the steeple at the public opening ceremony. Halvard of course, suffers from acrophobia, a morbid fear of extreme heights....

Urged on by the lovely Hilda, Solness, a successful builder, takes their relationship a step too far.