The Quintessence of Ibsenism (Version 2): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Quintessence of Ibsenism (Version 2), credited to George Bernard Shaw, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Quintessence of Ibsenism (Version 2) by George Bernard Shaw. Read in English by Gesine; Helen Taylor; Soumen Barua; asterix; KHand; wolfstevent; inflected; Jack Daniel; Wendy Almeida; Philip Panos InThis is an essay providing an extended analysis of the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and of Ibsen's critical reception in England. Shaw uses this "exposition of Ibsenism" to illustrate the imperfections of British society, using the idea of an imaginary "community of a thousand persons," divided into three categories: Philistines, Idealists, and the lone Realist. The main discussion revolves around Ibsen's recurring topic of the strong character holding out against social hypocrisy, while stating in his essay's final sentence that the quintessence of Ibsenism is that "there is no formula." ( Michele Eaton)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Quintessence of Ibsenism (Version 2)
• Author credits: George Bernard Shaw
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 19
• Listed recording duration: 4:17:57

Catalogue topics

• essay
• literary criticism
• social hypocrisy

Track guide

1. 00 - Preface — 4:08
2. 01 - The Two Pioneers — 26:48
3. 02 - Ideals and Idealists — 19:11
4. 03 - The Womanly Woman — 24:23
5. 04 - The Plays-Brand — 5:09
6. 05 - The Plays - Peer Gynt — 13:59
7. 06 - The Plays - Emperor and Galilean — 22:57
8. 07 - The Plays - The League of Youth — 3:42
9. 08 - The Plays - Pillars of Society — 5:28
10. 09 - The Plays - A Dolls House — 6:05
11. 10 - The Plays - Ghosts — 16:09
12. 11 - The Plays - An Enemy of the People — 7:14
13. 12 - The Plays - The Wild Duck — 8:12
14. 13 - The Plays - Rosmersholm — 14:28
15. 14 - The Plays - The Lady From the Sea — 4:58
16. 15 - The Plays - Hedda Gabler — 13:35
17. 16 - The Plays - The Moral of the Plays — 22:10
18. 17 - Appendix Part 1 — 25:51
19. 18 - Appendix Part 2 — 13:31

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.