Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828 in Skien, Norway, and grew up in a lower middle-class family that faced many financial hardships with his father’s business. These experiences shaped many of Ibsen’s playwrights, as they focused on topics of personal struggle and societal expectations. Henrik Ibsen left his home at a young age to work as an apprentice pharmacist. Shortly after, he switched to a playwright. His early years were marked by isolation and frustration with Norwegian society which fueled his challenging of societal norms in writing.