In the following essay excerpt, Brustein explores connections between Ibsen's leaving his native Norway and the rich inspiration present in Brand, calling the drama "a sudden revelation from the depths of an original mind."

Any discussion of Ibsen's mature art must start with Brand, since this monolithic masterpiece is not only the first play he completed after leaving his native country, but his first, and possibly his greatest, work of enduring power. Nothing in Ibsen's previous writings prepares us for a play of this scope, not even the substantial talent he displays in The Vikings at Helgeland and The Pretenders, for Brand is like a sudden revelation from the depths of an original mind. It is highly probable that Ibsen's achievement in Brand was intimately connected with his departure from Norway, for he seemed to find an important source of creative power in his self-imposed exile: "I...