Recommendations
Books Like Peer Gynt
Best books to read after Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Readers who love Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen are drawn to its combination of the fantastical dramatic poem that spans a lifetime from Norway to Morocco to a lunatic asylum, the philosophical investigation of 'being oneself' and the life of evasion, and the Grieg incidental music that made it world-famous. They want works that deal with the romantic fantastic, the question of authentic selfhood, the Scandinavian dramatic tradition, and the great dramatic poem that investigates the relationship between the imagined self and the real one.
- 1Buy
Brand
by Henrik Ibsen
The companion dramatic poem — Brand's uncompromising commitment to principle. The companion as the perfect opposite: where Peer avoids himself at every turn, Brand commits himself absolutely to God and principle, and is destroyed by the absoluteness of his commitment
- 2Buy
A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen
The companion — Nora's departure. The companion investigation of the same theme in a realistic mode: Nora's departure is the action that Peer keeps avoiding throughout his entire life — the refusal to remain what others want her to be and the choice of authentic selfhood
- 3Buy
The Wild Duck
by Henrik Ibsen
The companion — the Ekdal family and the wild duck. The companion investigation of the same theme: the relationship between the life-lie (the illusion that sustains a person who cannot face themselves) and the truth that would destroy them
- 4Buy
Faust
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Goethe's companion investigation of the great figure who spends a lifetime in restless pursuit. Both Faust and Peer Gynt are extraordinary figures who discover at the end that they have not found what they were seeking through their restless motion
- 5Buy
Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen
The companion — Hedda's trapped idealism. The companion investigation of the same predicament in a realistic register: where Peer evades his authentic self through fantastic adventure, Hedda is trapped in a bourgeois life that cannot contain her, and her evasion takes the form of manipulation and destruction
- 6Buy
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes
Cervantes's companion investigation of the man whose imagination transforms the world he lives in. Both Peer and Don Quixote invent themselves and live by their own stories; both are investigations of the relationship between the imagined self and the real one
- 7Buy
The Master Builder
by Henrik Ibsen
The companion late Ibsen — Halvard Solness and Hilde Wangel. The companion investigation of the same theme in the late realistic-symbolic mode: Solness's fear of youth (which is also his fear of his own ambition) is the same evasion that structures Peer Gynt, now analyzed in terms of a specific professional and sexual relationship
- 8Buy
The Playboy of the Western World
by J.M. Synge
Synge's companion investigation of the boastful self-inventor — Christy Mahon in the west of Ireland. The companion in the Irish dramatic tradition of the same figure as Peer Gynt: the man who invents a heroic self through storytelling and lives for a time inside the story
More Peer Gynt Resources
More Reading Recommendations
View all →Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.