Poquette has a bachelor's degree in English and specializes in writing about literature. In the following essay, Poquette discusses Brand's conflicting desires, which ultimately drive him mad and lead him to death.

In Ibsen's Brand, the title character has such strength of conviction that he sacrifices everything, including his family, to stick to his beliefs. On the surface, this appears to be a noble thing to do. In fact, many critics, like Edmund Gosse, who in the 1889 Fortnightly Review notes that the play is a "beautiful Puritan opera," have seen Brand as a hero. However, as Irving Deer states in his 1961 article, "Ibsen's Brand: Paradox and the Symbolic Hero," this is not a foregone conclusion with all critics. Wrote Deer, "Simply stated, the controversy boils down to whether Ibsen intended him to be a hero or a villain." By studying Brand's spiritual journey, however, it appears that...