I was inspired to create the site by a play by Norwegian playwright G. Ibsen's An Enemy of the People (1882) (see the wonderful American film version of the 1978 play starring Steve McQueen, “An Enemy of the People”, as well as the interesting 1989 film adaptation by Estonian director Mickey Mikiver). Henrik Ibsen's play has a rich history of productions in Russia. Suffice it to recall that K.S. Stanislavsky's best role was that of Dr. Stockman (Stockman). The drama “Enemy of the People” has always been doomed to success during years of social and political turmoil. The play, of course, has a revolutionary pathos; it has changed quite differently now.
In the play by G. Ibsen's victim of mobbing is Dr. Stockman, the city's respected chief physician, who called on the town's authorities to close the sanatorium's bacteria-contaminated mud bath. The city authorities do not want to close the main source of revenue for the city budget. Dr. Stockman manages to unite like-minded people for some time, but the city's fathers decide to take revenge on him and declare him an enemy of the people. Mobbing/stalking/bulling/persecution begins, as a result of which not only Dr. Stockman himself suffers, but also all members of his family, as well as his only friend, Captain Morten. The last scene of the play caught our attention. Dr. Stockman is surrounded by family in his home, with rocks flying from the street through the broken windows. This is how the townspeople demonstrate to Stockmans that it is time for them to get out of town. And it would seem that the end of the play is a foregone conclusion, but Ibsen leaves it open:
Fro Stockman Oh, no matter how they chase you away, those grey wolves, Thomas!
Dr. Stockman Are you in your mind, Katrina? Shut me away when I'm now the strongest man in town?
Fro Stockman. Strongest? T_e_p_e_r_that!
Dr. Stockman Yes, I can even say that I'm one of the strongest people in the whole world now!
Morten. That's the thing!
Dr. Stockman(by lowering your voice) Shh... I don't need to tell anyone about this yet. But I've made a great discovery.
Fro Stockman Reopening?!
Dr. Stockman Well yeah, well yeah! (He gathers everyone around him and speaks in secret.) The thing is, you see, the strongest person in the world is the one who is the loneliest!
Fro Stockman(smiling, shaking his head) Oh, it's you, Thomas!
Petra(grabbing my father's arms in a cheerful, confident tone) Dad!
The play ends at the most interesting place. Ibsen hinted at the revival of Stockman's personality, at the possible restoration of justice. But unfortunately, we can only wonder what will happen to the doctor and his family next. Ibsen does not answer important questions: “What is Dr. Stockman going to do next?” and “Where does Stockman get so optimistic?”. And what does the doctor's phrase mean: “The thing is, do you see that the strongest person in the world is the one who is the loneliest!”?
Will he become a person who will respond with aggression to aggression? Will he go to another city and bring together like-minded people who are not involved in mobbing? Will he create a party of people loyal to him and will his position become the majority position? The answers to these questions are important primarily for those people who find themselves in his position, i.e. as an enemy of the people, a scapegoat, a white crow, an outsider. Dr. Stockman arrived in the city recently, the chief physician, the brother of the “governor”, does not behave as, from the point of view of an average person, the chief physician and the governor's brother should be — frivolous, cheerful, intelligent, expresses bold thoughts and is ready for even bolder deeds — in the eyes of the crowd he is ready to do ANYTHING to disturb the philistine peace and well-being of citizens. You will probably recognize it as yourself or your friends and acquaintances when you read this play. He is like many of us, because victims of persecution have similar features, just as the methods and methods of persecution have been stereotypical and have been unchanged for several millennia (see René Gerard's book “The Scapegoat”). But why does the author of the play not answer what is the future of the doctor? Let us suppose, based on the opinion of the French philosopher and researcher of this problem, René Gerard, that in world practice there are almost no cases when victims of persecution wrote memoirs and talked about the persecution they were subjected to, as well as how they coped with it (among those who survived, of course). Perhaps the exception may be “The Life of Archpriest Habakkuk” and the terrible evidence of mobbing on the part of the state — texts of Russian camp prose (A. Sozhenitsyn, V. Shalamov, E. Ginsburg). On the other hand, there are many texts in which the persecutors or witnesses themselves described the situation for various reasons: to justify the violence, to call for the sacralization of the victim (often, a “goat” turned into a “lamb” — a symbol of Christ). But the victim herself, as a rule, did not share what she went through and, most importantly for us, did not share how she continued to live after that. Let's write a Piece. Ibsen is the sequel, making her hero our chief consultant. I hope that with your help, Dr. Stockman will reveal his secret to optimism and, perhaps, answer positively the question: “Is there life after mobbing?”
Please send your ideas, synopses, sequels to the play “Enemy of the People” to the email address:
mobbingu.net@gmail.com
The best stories will be published on our website, and the winner will receive a book as a gift.
On the photos: the statuette “Stanislavsky in the role of Dr. Stockman” (by N.S. Sudbinin) and a portrait of K.S. Stanislavsky and B.Shaw. 1931.
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