Get your "A" in gear!

They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes ™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles. SparkNotes '™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

· They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.

· They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.

· The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!

亨利剋·易蔔生（1928-1906），是挪威人民引以自豪的戲劇大師、歐洲近代戲劇新紀元的開創者，他在戲劇史上享有同莎士比亞和莫裏哀一樣不朽的聲譽。

易蔔生齣生於挪威海濱一個小城斯基恩。少年時期，因父親破産，傢道中落，沒有進成大學，不滿十六歲就到一傢藥店當學徒。社會的勢利，生活的艱辛，培養瞭他的憤世嫉俗的性格和個人奮鬥的意誌。在繁重而瑣碎的學徒作之餘，他刻苦讀書求知，並學習文藝寫作。1848年歐洲的革命浪潮和挪威國內的民族解放運動，激發瞭青年易蔔生的政治熱情和民族意識，他開始寫瞭一些歌頌曆史英雄的富有浪漫色彩的劇作。接著，他先後在卑爾根和奧斯陸被劇院聘為導演和經理，達十餘年之久。這段經曆加深瞭他對挪威社會政治的失望，於是憤而齣國，在意大利和德國度過二十七年（1863－91）的僑居生活，同時在創作上取得瞭輝煌的成就，晚年纔迴奧斯陸。易蔔生一生共寫瞭二十多部劇作，除早期那些浪漫抒情詩劇外，主要是現實主義的散文劇即話劇。這些散文劇大都以習見而又重大的社會問題為題材，通常被稱為“社會問題劇”。《社會支柱》（1877）、《玩偶之傢》（1879）、《群鬼》

（1881）和《人民公敵》（1882）是其中最著名的代錶作。