The work is quite autobiographical, as Ibsen indeed worried about the usurpation of his throne by younger figures - particularly Strindberg - suffered from acrophobia, and was often enamored by the charm of young ladies and maidens.

It is also a drama with tightly intertwined dependencies of other characters with the central hero, which nearly elevates him to a figure of tragedy.

Solness, an arrogant middle-aged man with many elements of ironic wisdom, transcends his limits and possibilities, through a vigilance of repressed feelings he carried throughout his life, when he succumbs and is swept away by the tenderness, humanity, and youthful vigor of Hilda.

And it is well known how tragic the end is for ordinary mortals when they transcend the human.