The family environment is the battleground in John Gabriel Borkman. While the bourgeois dream of material affluence and social advancement is under multiple assaults, at the core of the drama lies the fundamental Ibsenian concern: the position of the individual - and especially the "exceptional" - within society.

"I can sense the imprisoned millions; I feel their metallic veins, their sprawling hands unfolding, like branches, towards me... But now, I want to whisper to you, in the night silence. I love you! You, who are half-dead in the dark depths! I love you, thirsting riches for life... along with all your brilliant entourage of power and authority! I love you, I love you!"