"Little Eyolf", is the story of its title character, a young boy who is paralyzed in one leg, and his family, the Allmers. At the outset of the play we find Eyolf's father Alfred returning from a trip in the mountains where he has decided to abandon work on his book and focus on raising his son. The tragic irony of this newly found yet seemingly empty devotion is exhibited when Eyolf disappears unnoticed with the Rat-Wife, a woman capable of enchanting rodents into following her into the sea. Written in 1894 and first performed the following year, "Little Eyolf" is one of Ibsen's classic and tragic dramas.