New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-18

., all, ara. tho notes which dominate his modern
plays, showing that the youthmi oias eng "
pure experience and intellectual cruul'S. oo'""o
fixed IN him and has given The prevailing ooo' " H'
mature work.
Now pe,siml,m Of this kind j. the snfe't marx
n, sunorecaI thinking that can be adduced. for 1t
snrings from insufficient knowledge and rencctoh'
and when put forward seriously aS Ju'tinabe vie"
of life if indicate, shallow readiness 10 accept DIS
final the merest she'll and oner surface OF tiihgS'
Jaeger relates thst Ib-en was for time strongly IN
clncd IN favor Communism. but that when the fariS
Commune Illustrated il doctrines ~ bioOn anu hIc
he abandoned this departure. though reluctantly
Il is apparent throughout his literary productions
that lie never gave serious reflection TO the sOclal
problems with which he undertook 10 DEAL put tld'
he allowed himself to he led on in the direction MS
Youthful mind had taken and that a. I've gre" ouer
hi, early fallacies were not dScaiueu' Dut rdtner
confirmed and rounded out by the accrcton OF other
delusions Jaeger frankly ntimateS that loSeh mas
always been more or less impractical ana aN an cN-
annie ~ his inability TO deal with the real in life
he instances his treatment Of love III the pay called
. Loves Comedy The position taken bv MIN nero
Is that IL Is useless TO love- inasmuch aS love cannot
last and SO he makes his hero and heroine separate
by mutual consent at the moment when 'hcy reaiEe
that they are devoted to another. Nothing could
u no more absurd than the situation thus prCsnccd.
ard IL betrays at once a perversity OF idcalzatOn
and singular ignorance Of the effects Of passion upon
the human mind There Is apparently no evidence
that Ibsen ever read Schopenhaucr. but there Is
flavor Of the Philosophy of Pcssmism about this
drama which must have bewildercd and amazed the
simnIc NorwegianS before whom 1t was performed.
and Who very naturally. did not admire it,
op. Of tle distinguishing characteristics OF this ago
IFS disposition TO revolt against the nonotony Of
life and to that disposition must be ascribed many OF
the modern oubursts of enthusiasm. real or simulated,
over novelties in art and literature whose single claim
N attention consists in their ccccstIicty No candid
and close ANALYSIS OF Ibscn's plays fail to demon
stratc the faIlacy and crldcnc>s Of the assumptions
upon which they are built; but because they presen,
odd and bizarrer views OF society. and because they
pa,adoxicallv condemn many things which wiser
critics see To be either inevitable or sanary, they
have secured a vogue among gObemoufhcs' and
dccadentsr which is likely To prove rs Letting as II
i, ulfoundcd The world seems 10 nave become OF
late 80 impatient for new gospel that it is ready to
welcome even a reading Of the old one backward
40 doubt there is in thi, something OF reaction from
tho tyranny Of evolutionary science. lbScn l. moro
than half "A mystic. and the halc", Of natcriali~n
possibly think they in him q champion oil thar
higher life the very possibility OF which some rep
rcsentativeS Of science would deny. BHb IbNcn
mysticism has taken the form OF that most useless
expenditure Of energy which lies IN warfare Of de-
struction against the existing civilization. TAec are
certain points Of resemblance between him and CONT
leo To,;o Both are pcssimists regards the so
ccty Of their time. Both are awc>s IN their idcasn
Both equally ignore the causes which nave mrlc the
world what it j. Both alike shut their ejcs 10 the
necessity Of changing the very base, Of human natro
before their imagined reforms can become anything
more than idle dreams
There is neither health help in such work. nor
can 50 onesded and impractical thinker ~ Ib'ch
change the current ~ dramatic and literary develop
mcnt lie NAV voice the dissatisfaction which II
note Of our time. and which is oitener due 10 tile
consciousness Of Incidence, slOth and ncapaciiy by
the Discontinued. than To tie presence ~ unusual
Impodmcnts in their environment. Bat a dranatlSi
who cgin. by inVcnting unreal conditions VINO PR"
ceeds Ia introduce impossible combinations. and who
then Iashes with his satire the rrotesquo creations o
his own Imagination, under the supposluon That nc
is exposing social wrongs and abuses has no real
place I'm the ranks either 81 art reform lie may
perhaps be studied a curious and morbid phchomc
non Illustrating In his incOnsccutvc ard confused
rca sonlng the modern tendencies toward radical con
illusions upon shallow and Insufficient premises n'V
he will not bc regarded accepted A. seer ana
revelaOr nor the pioneer IN path which sane ana
sober intelligence can afford 20 follow.