This thesis will argue that the personal values of the playwright helped shape the antagonist in the modern tragedies of Henrik Ibsen and Jean-Paul Sartre.

In this thesis, I demonstrate a common sociological or philosophical idea shared by antagonists in two pairs of plays. In Chapter 1, I analyze the antagonist as a helper in the plays An Enemy of the People by Ibsen and Dirty Hands by Sartre. These antagonists are Realists who help Idealist protagonists achieve their goals. In Chapter 2, I analyze female antagonists from The Master Builder by Ibsen and The Devil and the Good Lord by Sartre based on concepts of objectification derived from feminist theory. All four antagonists share the same characteristic: selbstliebe, or self-love.

By comparing antagonists to these playwrights’ lives, I deduce that the antagonist in Ibsen and Sartre is constructed out of their personal opinions on philosophy and gender.