The collected works of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. 06 (of 11)

The volume assembles two stage plays that examine the tensions between public image and private motive. One play satirizes local politics and reformist posturing, following ambitious figures who manipulate civic feeling and social occasions to advance personal aims, producing comic exposure and strained relationships. The other dramatizes reputed community leaders whose respectable facades hide moral compromises and past misdeeds, tracing how returning pressures and family entanglements unravel reputations and force ethical reckonings. Both pieces employ plain, stage-centered prose and closely observed social scenes to probe hypocrisy, responsibility, and the cost of maintaining appearances.