Little Eyolf (Mencken Translation)

Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen, in H. L. Mencken’s lucid translation, is a haunting dramatic work that dissects marriage, parenthood, and the moral cost of artistic ambition. Set in Ibsen’s late period alongside The Master Builder and John Gabriel Borkman, this intimate play unfolds as a tense psychological drama centered on Albert and Rita Allmers and the web of longing, jealousy, and responsibility that binds them to family and to one another. Ibsen’s spare, incisive dialogue and Mencken’s colloquial rendering illuminate themes of guilt, desire, and the search for meaning in everyday life. Symbolic elements — including the enigmatic Rat-Wife figure — and candid confrontations strip the characters to raw emotional truth without sacrificing the play’s social and moral complexities. The result is a modern tragedy that probes how private yearnings collide with public duty and how love can become both saving grace and source of ruin. Ideal for listeners of classic drama, psychological plays, and literary translations, this audiobook offers a powerful, thought-provoking experience for fans of Henrik Ibsen and anyone who appreciates intense character studies and enduring questions about responsibility, art, and the human heart.