The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1903-03-12
MRS. THEIRS READS THE PAPER
Interesting Discussion of the Life of Great
Dramatist Is Lead by Mrs. A. H. Lance
A Very Successful Meeting.

fad of the fashiona bic set of the large
cities and the most charming of all
modern day dramatists was the topic
of discussion at the fortnightly meet
ing of the Woman's Club on Wednes-
day afternoon. The discussion of the
life and work of the Morse writer made
one of the most interesting meetings
ever held by the Club. Mrs. E. C.
Theirs, one of Kenosha' most careful
students of literature, was the essayist
and she presented the life work of the
great writer of Norway in a manner so
charming and so filled with interesting
matter that literary Kenosha found
many new points of interest in the life
of Ibseu and his unfamiliar works.
In prefacing her paper Mrs. Theirs
spoke OF the feeling that comes from
an acquaintance with the dramas of
Iosen. "They lead,' she said, "not
along the pleasant valley or beside
still waters, but the path is rugged
and rough and the waters tossed and
turbulent
She spoke of Ibsen's faith in woman
kind and the part that the woman had
always played in the dramas of his
composition.
Branching from the work to the life
of the author, Mrs. Theirs told of the
struggle of Ibsen. Born in Norway,
the son of seafaring forefathers, Ibsen
gained the rugged constitution which
made it possible for him to stand the
Sights which had followed his earlier
efforts to find fame and fortune. Most
of his life has been spent in Christina,
and now that he is rs years of age he
has returned to that city, and his last
years, crowned with glory, are being
spent amidst the scenes of the early
struggle for recognition.
Mrs. Theirs spoke of the ancestors
of Ibsen and the marked effect their
influence had been on his life and
work. She spoke of his life at his
native home in Skein, the little Nor
way seaport where he had lived sur
rounded by the village church, the
village Jail, the village nadhouse and
the village pillory. These surround
ings were largely responsible for the
morbid disposition which is so appar-
ent IN all the works of Ibsen.
During his youth his parents lost
home and property and with it caste in
the little village, and Isben early in
life became recluse, shutting himself
up in his little room and reading or
drawing all the time. In these years
he laid the foundation for his future
career.
When he was 10 years of age Ibsen
became an apothecary, but the narrow
confines of the little gossipy country
towns of Norway were not in keeping
with his high ideals of life and all
through his earlier plays and poems
are to be found traces of his longings
for that outer and greater world of
thought and great national deeds.
Stung with the reproaches of his early
days he began his first drama with
Catalina as hero and lambasting the
existing society of his small home
town. This first drama was published
in 1850 and only thirty copies of it was
sold. A short time later Isben went to
Christina, where he became the
manager of the theater, and his dra-
matte career stated from this point.
During his stay at the theater he be-
came master of the technique of the
drama. His first successful drama was
Lady Inger of Ostrat," and it
brought out all the morbid feelings of
the man. It was followed by "The
Feast of So1hang," the brightest and
most cheerful of his entire dramatic
works.
In the latter part of her paper Mrs.
Theirs took up the different plays of
Ibsen and read many pretty and repre-
sentative passages from them, show
ing the development of the dramatist
to his greatest success in his social
plays, which are now being produced
in the theaters of every country in the
world.
Mrs. Theirs spoke Of the ceas1ess
warfare of the critics in regard to the
Ibsen plays and showed that the work
of Ibsen could. never be made popular
in America on account of its total lack
of humor.
The essayist during the afternoon
gave just little touch of the private
life of Ibsen, showing how much the
sentiments expressed in his plays had
| governed his life at home.
| Following the reading of the paper
an interesting discussion was lead by
Mrs. A. H. Lance, those taking part in
the discussion being .esdames F. w.
Bowen, w. r. Chez 1er, J. B. Draper,
E. c. Meers and the Rev. Marion Muir
doch.
The usual cupof tea closed the after
noon, Mrs. H. S. VanIngen and Mrs.
James Cavanagh presiding at the
tables.
The next meeting of the Club will be
held on the afternoon of March IS, at
which time Mrs. z. G. Simmons, Jr.
will read a paper on 1.-THE Life and
Work of Queen Anne.''