Michael Meyer (1967), Ibsen's biographer, has commented that Ibsen made three significant contributions to the theatre. First, demonstrating that high tragedy could be written about ordinary people; second, doing away with well-worn artificial plot devices of mistaken identities, overheard conversations, intercepted letters, etc.; and finally, creating modern male and female characters of depth and complex interiority. High tragedy before Ibsen had taken place in palaces or castles rather than in parlours and sitting rooms. Ibsen showed that high tragedy could be written about ordinary people and in ordinary prose. In so far as Ibsen eschewed hackneyed devices, he developed the art of:

By the exclusive use of this language he propelled the plot forward, revealing or concealing as necessary the motive force of the play. This use of language required a different kind of acting, a departure from the declamatory, recitative mode to a more sensitive, self-effacing style that required attention to the dialogue and a responsiveness to the actual situation created on stage.

Ibsen's understanding of interior life makes his account of madness particularly of interest in so far as it addresses the phenomenology of madness, its explicit signs, origins and consequences. Ibsen's characters are carefully observed and some are drawn from real life. This aspect of Ibsen's writing, the relationship between his real life and his characterisation of the dramatis personae is another dimension to his art. We have knowledge of Ibsen's life, his friendships and relationships, such that the temptation to seek the models of his characters, to investigate the sources of his plots is often irresistible. Furthermore, Ibsen's male characters are as singular as any known to drama: Osvald Alving in Ghosts; Tomas Stockmann in An Enemy of the People; Arnold Rubek in When We Dead Awaken; John Rosmer in Rosmersholm; Halvard Solness in The Master Builder; and John Gabriel Stockman in John Gabriel Borkman all have intense inner life, driven by hidden conflicts or convictions. But, perhaps it is his female characters that are most singular.