Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play An Enemy of the People was a direct response to the public outcry of his previous play, Ghosts, which openly discussed adultery and syphilis.  In An Enemy of the People, Dr. Stockmann, who stands for truth (uncomfortable as it may be), like the cold, is shut out and avoided. Ibsen himself admitted his main character might have gone too far in his zeal for the truth.