The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-03-23

Who calls bis love bis own.
Who calls his love his own
ALFRED AUSTIN
HENRIK IBsEN. ICONOCLAsT.
One hearsit said. and said with much
emphasis, that Ibsen's present popular
ity in America is wholly factitiou sand
insiucerc. the work Of claques and
cliQues. and other deplOrable Influences.
There isa certain plausIbility in the
reasoning by which this view Is de
Tended. if only we are willing TO adopt
a mistaken standpoint. l. is error to
assume that public interest in lbsen 5
work is of q purely literary character.
II that were the case. IL the artistic
quality of Ibscn's writings were the
sole element 10 beconsidered, one might
readily admit that for students Of EGG
lish and French dramatic literature 10
sen shiues with a somewhat pallid ray.
Judging from my own impressions. 1
should say that the literary side of lib
sen 5 work is the very last feature that
suggests itself in the picture that lives
in one IS mental retna. COheleth and
and Carlyle have literary merits. to be
sure. but ore would as soon think Of
regulating thunderclap with . metro
nome. as of applying simply literary
tests 10 these and their like. Literary
skill has added a barb 10 the shaft. it is
true. but without the force behind il, the
missile would prove but toy.
fought % premise that my own ac-
quaintance with Ibsen s work is con
fined TO the four prose dramas which
have appeared in English under tine
tutelary wing of M. Edmund G0sse ::
"A Doll 5 House. Pillars Of Society.
Ghosts, ~ and "ROsmershOlm. These
are said 20 be fairly representative Of
their author. and certainly IF "R0smer-
shOlm il not charac eristic of lbsen,
10 must be- pronounced unique. rs DR..
Holmes mas reminded u. it ia dull
person who requires the whole foot 10
order TO infer a Hercules. "A Dolls
House. in spite of the black and sin
lister shadow which haunis IL in the
person of DR.. Rank, strikes one. upon
the whole. as rather slight per
f0rmance and the same may be
said Of Pillars OF Society.
which, however, alone among the
four pieces. might lend itself
fairly we'll 10 actual scenic repre-
sentaii0u. But Chests, and above all =,
'R0smcrsh0lm. are yeritable thunder
bolts. launched at all that is hollow and
rotten IN our boosted civilization. A
sort Of morbid illusion surrounds us as
we read; under tine sailow rays OF
waning moon we mark the besOtted
multitudes of earth. hoodwinked by
superstition or intoxicated with levlty,
/ digging their own graves at the hest OF
/ a scornful Fate, while far of the Titanic
.susculottes. Truth and Freedom, are
/ dancing naked and unashamed. IN
I Ibsen's eyes the whole fair-seeming
/ temple OF thc world is a whited sepul-
chre. which his Gothic hands are fam
20 destroy.
Ills an uuWecGed garden
/ That grows t0 seed; Things rank and gross I'D
nature
/ Possess 10 merely.
One might extract from these plays
what an irony turks in the word "a
whole bailling philosophy Of despair. a
gospel of perduion. IL is joy that en-
mobiles the soul. cries R0smer but this
i0y of lifeis attended with hideous ef
iects. as he story of Oswald Alvlng
proves. To live ones own life, TO fol-
low the natural impulses. is the highest
rule Of conduct and the qualification
If these tendencies. as in Johannes kos
mer's case. involves the destruction OF
our happiness and that Of our dearest
ones. This terrible drama might have
for its motto that sentence of Leo y
/ conscience is an evil beast. that arm:
man against himself. Aud yetit would
be falliaous tOassume that lb,en has any
where formulated theory Of life. pes
81 nistic or other The process of read
Ing between the lines is always doubt
ful ore. and in Ibscn's case. owing tC
the Olympian attitude he successfully
maintains. the results Of The process
are peculiarly untrustwOrthy. Messrs
/ Boyesen and Gosse. for instance
have attempted sketches that dihel
widely in their effect. I0sen Is com
. monty ciassed as satirist. but the tern
is inapplicable, | venture to think
Laughter Is the satirist's aim. but Il d
certainly not Ibseus. His TarluiIe
] and Pecksuifs are not cific4turcd. h'
may despise them, but at any rste he
allows them fair play. When Psrsol
Manders induces Mrs. AlviDg 10 leay'
her orphanage uninsured in Difference
10 popular prejudice. Invoking a specia
Z providence. JUST as the gambler invoke
his luck. weafe but family amused AM
not AT an indignant: we cannot bel
A. liking Maadeis. whose weaknesses al
Ian amiable. So IN 'ltCsmershclm. al
though Knoll. tie champion Of orthodo.
conservatism. Is depicted A. a ylOlen
partisan, there is nothing sanctlmoniou
about him; his arguments are suii
cienlly rational and consistent from hi
own poiut Of view Critic.