Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-21
REVIEWS IBSEN AND
His lNDIvIDUALISM

Edward Adams Cantrell delivered
the third of his lectures on Literary
interpretations of the Social Problem"
at Blanchard hall yesterday afternoon.
his subject being "Ibsen and Individ-
ualism." The lecture dealt with
number of the dramatist's best known
works, and the speaker said in part,
comparing his present subject with
those Of his two previous lectures:
philosophy is biographical, Nietsz-
che has told us. and we have no better
illustration of the saying than In
Nietszche himself. 1t is a most inter-
esting study to note the similarities
and differences between Tolstoy.
Nietszche and Ibsen. All Of them are
extreme individualists. The philosophy
of Tolstoy is that of an old man; a
man prematurely old. Life is wretched.
The way out is the way of nihilism.
End the whole thing. 1t Is Schopen-
hauer, with practical applications.
"The philosophy of Nietszche is that
of a sick man; man chemically dis
eased. His very disease, however,
through a process of self-reverslon,
makes him exalt life. He accepts life
and prophesies the coming OF the su-
herman: the strong, virile, splendid,
animal man. His way to this is through
the elimination of the unfit in the life
struggle.
"Ibsen brings to US also the message
of life A man of splendid vitality, OF
splendid intellectually, he. too, accepts
life and exalts it. He sees that in
many aspects it is mean and frag-
mentary, but he sees that new ana
larger life must come.
"Tolstoy despises woman. His scorn
of her is spread on almost every page
of his writings. His nihilistic program
has no place for her redemption.
"Nietszche shares this scorn, but he
cannot get away from her and her
function as mother to the coming SUI
herman. This superman Will come not
through any virtue of womanly charac-
fer but by man in his strength, de-
termining the strength Oh MS OFFSPRING.
Woman's Supreme Importance
"Ihs@, sees the limitations of woman
hood as clearly as any one. Suppressed
as she has been, limited and narrowed,
he. too. sees that she is hale a child,
at times a barbarian, II not a savage.
hut he is too much of scientist to
build hopes for the race without the
cooperation of womanhood.
"The woman must rise IL the world
&c TO rise, for motherhood determines
the quality of life as much as does
fatherhood.
II must not be partial Individuality.
The woman must become an individual
also a great individuality, if life is to
"Ibsen's hope of the world rests
largely on womanhood and the work.
ers life, love and labor being the trim
ity of world redemptive principles. He
had hope for the workers because they
had remained close to the health and
sanity of concrete things.
"The uniting of the elemental in the
woman with the elemental workers
would save the world from the over
refinements and distractions which al
WAYS presage deterioration and decay"
Next Sundays lecture will be ON
"Victor Hugo and Reconsideration"
THE eight lectures of the course aim
TO give a comprehensive view of mod
ern thought on the social question as
seen through the spectacles of the
most renowned literary men of mod
ern times That the subject Is one Of
interest and is being handled ~ 90 fa-
teresting manner is pr 10 Che faoi
that the attendance hi Boon rcwins
steadily,