Lady Inger of Østraat

(Fru Inger til Østraat)

Henrik Ibsen 1855, rev. 1874.

Five-act historical drama in prose, set in the early sixteenth century, when Norway was under the oppressive domination of Denmark.

The play, dealing freely with actual historical personages, is a complex maze of intrigue, intercepted letters, seduction, double-dealing, and rebellion. It focuses upon the battle of wits between the patriotic, politically influential Lady Inger Gyldenløve of Norway and the wily Danish knight Nils Lykke, in which the fates of both countries hang in the balance.

Caught in a web of plots and schemes, Lady Inger unwittingly orders the death of her own long-lost son and, as a result, becomes, at the end, a broken and tragic figure.