Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-23

Henrik Ibsen Translated by William
and Charles Archer With introduce
ton by william Archer New York:
Charles Scribners Sons. Washington:
Woodward & Lothrop.
This volume is the fourth in the Scribner
edition of "the collected works of Henrik
Ibsen." BY it the English speaking public
Is enabled to read one of the most impor-
tant of the spoch-making plays of the
great Norwegian. The introduction, by
William Archer, will be found Illuminating.
in fact, 1t might be said that 1t is almost
Indispensable.
Mr.. Archer states that at the time of the
publication of Peer Gynt," in 1867, Ibsen,
In the first flush of the popularity of
Brand" and new to the sensation of finsn-
cial ease due to the large sale of his first
popular work and the poet pension" grant
ed by the Norwegian government was in
lighter mood than he had ever been before.
Mr.. Archer thinks that this must be I'M
derstood If the philosophy of Peer Gynt'
is to be comprehended. Its satire, indeed,
is bitter enough; but it is not the work of
an unhappy man." There is often evidence
of an exuberance of animal spirits. Ibsen
himself protested energetically against the
over-serious discussion of the moral and
religious and political questions aroused
by the play, and demanded why the public
could not read the book as poem For
as such i wrote it,
This conception of Peer Gynt' first
poem, and only secondarily a satire on
present-day religion and morals. and on
the Norwegian national life, makes more
inevitable full delight in the marvellous
richness of the poets fancy. The reader
can enjoy the occasional grim humor, and
appreciate the clear indvidualiSm of the
peasant type. He can follow the shifting
phantasmagory of this CHANGING COM
mentary of human life, without finding it
necessary to discover in each stage of the
action an exact counterpart In the develop
ment OF the allegory. For Peer Gynt'
does not pretend to be a consistent al
1egory. More than all else, the reading
public can thoroughly enjoy n character
portrait which is worthy of being preserved
in the great fireproof. dust-proof, age-proof
gallery of the word-painters of mankind.
And that Peer, the son of Ase, will find
place there, somewhere between Gil Bias
and Hamlet, there can be little doubt
In far as Ieer is a Theme and a
Problem. rather than masterpiece of ere
alive fancy, he symbolizes Fantasy-not
ImagiI.dti ton which is all-compellng and
convinci 1g, but antasy, which hovers al
ways on the bo, ICELAND of the unreal, and
does not convince its own disciple. because
II has not its foundation in eternal verify.
Peer Gynt - 2r,a ior than the peasants
with whom he is surrounded because, I'M
Ike them, lac Las the germ of a conscious
intellectual ana spiritual life. But in no
one instance does he ever follow, to the
end. the freely of his own thought. He
is afraid CT lie pitfalls over which it
hovers Ha Fds always tantalizing and
misleading CLINT: cs at truth. His blunder-
ing advances and more laundering recoilS,
only lead him. into more gross error than
had he staid sill. He fails persons as
he fails Thoughts. He is only where his
own temperament enables him to interpret
his mothers weaknesses sympathetic
son. He brings nothing to the woman he
loves. but the opportunity for sacrifice He
IL a Bungler.
In the beginning Peer Gynt is given up
to the mazes of his fantasy. Its lowest
development in his excursion into the realm
of gross superstition and uncleanneSS, the
Dovre- Kings region: its highest is the
real. If mistaken tenderness with which
Peer Gynt robs his mothers dying moments
of pain by rhapsody of pleasing lies. Its
tragedy is his division from the purest in
fuence of his life. the love of Solveig, from
whom lie Consequences of half-hearted
sin. and half conceived evil thoughts. must
hanish HIN. In the fifth act. Peer Gynt,
translates his crazy egotsm, his desire to
be Myself. -, into various farcical excursions
into actualities. He is rich man. canting
philanthropist, prophet, and finally 'em-
peror' in a madhouse. In the last act,
broken. cynical. desperate. he returns to
his home. He meets the "Button-molder
death. extinction, who comes to announce
to him his fate-to be thrown out into the
scrap-heap with the other failures. the men
who have. in neither good nor bad. been
positive. there to be resolved into raw ma
terial with which future artisans may
work He is saved-in so far as he is saved
concerning which Ibsen is enigmatical-
by the fact that Peer, or Peers POSSIBLE
ties, have been preserved In the heart OF
the woman who loves him, Solveig.
I'm the charm of concrete imagery, in the
fascination of incident. in the relaxation of
humor, and In melody which clings to the
verse through the inevitable mangling of
even such translation the Archers
have been able to make, in all these quail
ties Peer Gynt' is great poem and a
scarcely less great drama. 1t is pleasant
to- 10 call fnr of
this edition,
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