Exactly. Dr. Stockmann is far from an unblemished hero. Also with his statement that the minority is always right, a sort of odd idea from our modern perspectives, where most people, whether on the right, the left or in the middle, would probably agree is not correct. Sometimes the minority is right, sometimes the majority. But Ibsen likely agreed with him, including on eugenics. Still, Thomas Stockmann is often blind to realities that are obvious to others. Ibsen clearly intended him to be somewhat naive and pigheaded (which is probably unfair to pigs, who are quite intelligent). The play is a comedy. (As with my other post, I am indebted to Rolf Fjelde for discussing why the play is a comedy.)
Having said that, since so many Trump supporters insist that the 2020 election was stolen, some of them may believe that the majority is always right. And that's about as political as I will probably ever get here. |
