Having spent many years in unexplained poverty in the wilds of Northern Norway, Dr. Tomas Stockmann and his family have recently returned to his small native town, now established as a health resort, where his brother Peter, the Mayor, has helped to procure for him the post of Medical Officer at the newly-opened Baths. The town is now hoping to attract thousands of visitors to partake of its medicinal waters. The doctor, an idealist with a passion for scientific truth, has attracted the admiration of Hovstad, the young editor of the radical local newspaper, and his even younger and excitable assistant, Billing, and the friendship of a young sea-captain, Horster. The doctor, however, discovers that the town’s health-giving waters are polluted by
waste from the local tanneries, especially those owned by Morten Kill, Stockmann’s father-in-law. The doctor’s belief that the town will praise him for discovering this truth before the first visitors arrive is supported by Hovstad and Billing and also by the politically ‘moderate’ Mr. Aslaksen, chairman of the Local Property Owners’ Association, a member of the Temperance Society and the owner of the printing press where Hovstad has his office and credit-free facilities. The Mayor, however, is not so pleased and the situation develops into a powerful, though at times farcical, confrontation between the two brothers and their opposing attitudes.