The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-11
"HEDDAGABLER" AGREATPLAY
MRS. Fishes PRESENTATION or
IBSEN'S WORK.

The Drama . Slice Of Lhe-The Bare Soul
or q woman shown by Ibsen--wonders
full TechnieAl Quality OF the Piay-Mrs.
Flske's lnterpr citation Interesting.
Ibsen's sHsdda Gablsr' Il . great play;
great despite ito unpleasant theme. and also
remarkable inasmuch - its subject mat
ter 10 essentially undramatio-'t picture
not Of an action but Of condition, as
Henry James puts 1t. The Norwegian poet
usually begins to develop his drama where
other writer's end theirs. A long chain OF
antecedent causes are presuppossd before
he lifts the curtain ON his story. Yet 80
wonderful 10 his art that We are treated to
no long explanations. no retrospective
speeches; indeed the text OF an lbsen play
10 little moro than q series Of memoranda
for the players. Cuvier-like, the actor
must reconstruct Q living human from .
mere bone Of word. These words seem
detached, seem meaningless, yet In action
their cohesiveness is unique; dialogue nielts
into dialogue action IL dovetailed to action,
and deeting gestures reveal q state OF soul.
Ibsen does not read a. well as he acts. He
n extremely difficult to interpret, for tho
reason that the old technique Of the actor
u inadequtae, q Mr.. Shaw long ago de-
clared.
But these critical commonplaces must
not detain us from q brief study Of .Hedda
Gabler.' Ono merit Of the piece 80 sue
cessfully revived by Mrs Fiske at the Man
haitian Theatre last week is its absence OF
literary flavor. 1t Is . slice Of life. In
his prose dramas Ibsen throws overheard
the entire baggage Of 'MtersrJ0 effects.
He who had worked 90 successfully in the
fold Of tina poetic legendary and historic
drama; who had fashioned that mighty
trilogy 'Brand." peer Gynt" and EN-
peror and Galilean,' saw that q newer
rubrio must b found for the delineation
Of modern men and women, modern prob
lens. 80. style IL absent In his later plays
style IN the rhetorical sense. Revolutionist
a be h, he IL nevertheless Journalist Of the
old school In his adherence to the classic
unities OF time, place, action. In 'Hedda
0abler' the action 10 impressed into space
Of about thirty-six hours: In one room.
and with q handful Of persons. Ono Is
tempted to say that the principal action
occurs before the play or of the stage
during its progress. Wecan see that Rsddd
does little throughout. Yet, through some
magical impairment Of the dramatist, We
seem to be in possession Of the character
istic facts Of her nature before abe arrives
on the scene. Concession does not alone
explain this: It may be noticed in Other
plays Of the Norwegian. 1t is the drama
turgio gift raised to It's highest power.
though that power be expended upon base
metal. Why Ibsen preferred Heddo to an
Isolds Is . question that would lead US into
the devious paths. Suffice it for the present
to say that some cruel experience clipped
his poetic WINGS or, as Georg Brandes
remarks, "a lyric Pegasus must have been
killed under him during the battle Of life
In .Hedda Gabler' all lyricism Is sternly
suppressed. As II the master had deter
mined to punish himself for his champion
ing Of individualism In his earlier plays
he draws the portrait Of ono who might,
easily figure as Nietzschean Over Woman.
Preaching that the State Is the foe Of the
individual. that only neutrality-suspicious.
revolution-can regenerate society, that
the superior man -andSEQaDan-A l]enA2E,4
that individual hbsrty must be fought for
at all hazards-iberty OF thought, speech.
action. Ibsen deliberately shows the free
woman, one emanoipated from tho beliefs
Of her family circle and her country. She
epitomizes the latter-day anti-eocial being
and il rightfully considered by psycholo-
gists as flaming sign Of the times. a brief
for the social democrats.
With remorseless logic an d an implacable
analysis Ibsen discovers to our Mortified
gaze this bare soul. We sec Heddd at school,
a discontented, restless girl. envious Of
her companions, conscious Of her own
superiority, mental and physical; cruel
and overlooking. Little, timid Thee Rys-
sing. with the crown Of whte-gold hair.
wavy. copious, excites anger in the breast
OF the badly balanced Hedda. She pulls
the hair and would delight to see 1t burn
After all. Is she not General GobIer's daugh-
ter. an aristocrat though poor one She
goes into society and has admirers. None
attract her. They are either too stupid
or not rich enough In this dangerous
predicament, jelly-like and drifting, she
encounters Eiljert L6vboro, young man Of
gsnius--at least Ibsen says he Is; he has
certainly the temperament Of erratic
genius, though at no time docs he betray
the possession OF higher gifts. Yet an
interesting man, romancing idealist, a
deceiver Of himself as well as Of the women
before whom he masquerades and poses
IN the role Of the misunderstood and perse-
cuted. He is first cousin to Hjalmdr
Ekdul in wild Duck, one Of those cyclists
Of tho self-pitying, elegiao kind who weep
when they regard In the mirror their own
sentimental features,
Despite her hardness, vanity, selfishness,
Hsdda Is taken in by this clever fellow.
Like Emma Bouary (while socially more
elevated), she is at heart an incorrigible
romantic and snobbish. Modish elegance is
her notion of the universe, and saddle
horse with a man in livery discreetly fol-
lowing her as she dashes through the
crowded park represents to her the top
notch Of mundane happiness. L6pborp
is a good liar. He has personal address.
is undoubtedly man OF brains, and dis
sipated as he is manages to surround his
loose living with the halo OF Byronism.
His debauches. he believes are the result
OF finely strung nature In conflict with
Q prosaic world! Hedda sympathizes with
this view. She does moro. She becomes
morbidly Interested In his doings and asks
imprudent questions which the man right
fully constructs as evd ,nces Of desire for the
life he describes. He makes his first error.
II is Hedda's opportunity and she avails
herself Of it. Naturally theatric In her
heart, she seizes her fathers pistol-therc