The Ibsen family at Venstøp was still part of the upper class – and more than they knew.

Almost all the members of the patrician class in Skien had moved from the city to farms in the surrounding area and they had brought with them the social customs and institutions of the city patricians. Therefore, parties and balls were held for both adults and children. During the adults' dinner party, little Henrik also got to entertain the guests with magic tricks, helped by his brother Nicolai who was hidden in a box.

Knud Ibsen also retained at Venstøp his role as an exceptional host for the best families and most important representatives of the local community, and both the shooting club and the parish club had their meetings and parties at Ibsen's Venstøp. There is therefore nothing to indicate that they were isolated or excluded from the social circle they had previously had in Skien. The nearest neighbor in Prinsens gate, Cudrio, was also the nearest neighbor at Venstøp.

At Henrik's confirmation, Knud Ibsen was outraged because his son only came in third place.

At Henrik's confirmation, Knud Ibsen was outraged because his son was only number three. The reason Knud reacted was that Henrik could answer the questions he was asked much better than the others. But the confirmands were not arranged according to knowledge, but according to social rank. What is interesting is that all of the first four on the floor of the church were Henrik himself and his closest circle of friends. That is to say, he did not condescend to be with farmers' sons. There was a clearly defined upper class in Gjerpen – and he stuck to it.

Among the boys, his best friend, Theodor Eckstorm, was number one. He was the son of ship captain Christian Eckstorm on Grini. He had sailed for Eidsvollsmannen Didrich von Cappelen Jr. and was godfather to several of von Cappelen's children.

In front of him and behind him on the church floor stood the boys who had cut the strings of his puppet theater. Number two was Peder Christian Pedersen, son of the sheriff at Limi. Number four was Ole Paulsen at Gulset. Even though he had only been given a "Good" rating in the church register, Ole Paulsen was still ahead of several boys who had received a "Very good" rating. His father's status as foreman in the Løvenskiold mines was clearly decisive in his placement ahead of the other boys.

Among the girls, there was no doubt who was number one. It was Sophie Caroline Fanny Løvenskiold, daughter of landowner Ernst Severin Løvenskiold in Fossum. Number two was Anne Cathrine Paus in Kjølnes. She was the daughter of proprietor and member of parliament Christian Paus – who was from a different Paus family than Henrik Ibsen's relatives the Paus from Lårdal. The third of the girls was Sophie Cappelen. She was the daughter of Eidsvollsmannen's eldest daughter Petronelle Cappelen who had inherited Mæla farm from her father. She therefore not only lived in close proximity to Venstøp, but she was also closely related. Petronelle Cappelen and Knud Ibsen were cousins. That is to say, Sophie and Henrik were third cousins. But they obviously did not know that. For Knud Ibsen had not only been deprived of his financial paternal inheritance, but also of the knowledge of his cultural and social paternal inheritance.

Knud Ibsen had also, without knowing it, had another relative in the immediate neighborhood at Venstøb. Jørgen Johan Ibsen was for a time a tutor to the sheriff at Limi. He had the middle name Johan after the same Johan Ibsen as Knud Ibsen's father and his son, Henrik Johan Ibsen. The first Johan Ibsen was one of the three brothers from Stege on Møen who had moved to Bergen and become skippers. Both of his brothers, Mathias and Peter, had sons and grandsons whose middle name was Johan. Jørgen Johan Ibsen at Limi was a descendant of Mathias Ibsen. Henrik Johan Ibsen and his son Knud Ibsen and his son Henrik Johan Ibsen were descendants of Peter Ibsen.