Ibsen ascended to the first ranks of European writers in the late nineteenth century and has remained there ever since. The Norton Critical Edition includes five major plays spanning Ibsen's long career in recent translations by Brian Johnston ( Peer Gynt, The Wild Duck , and The Master Builder ) and Brian Johnston and Rick Davis ( A Doll House and Hedda Gabler ). The translation of Peer Gynt appears for the first time in this Norton Critical Edition. "Backgrounds" gives students an understanding of Ibsen's creative process with selections from his correspondence and other writings. Twenty-seven documents have been collected and arranged by play, with a section of autobiographical writings at the end. Ibsen's plays continue to provoke diverse commentary. "Criticism" includes nineteen of the most important responses to Ibsen's work, among them essays by Bernard Shaw, Sandra Saari, E. M. Forster, Hugh Kenner, and Joan Templeton. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included. About the series : No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions . Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.