The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-01-07

s[ Ays AD "
whole. is faith in h spirit of man.
And though Ibsen in this, as in most
OF his other plays. presents mans
spirit, as he saw II, in scraps M
shreds." yet his presentation is never
without the idealist's hope tina. from
These torso-stumps of soul and
thought
A Man complete and whole shall
grow"
The first step toward complete man
hood is, from IbSen's point of view.
as has already been implied. com
plete seifhood. Brand, in spite of his
valiant individualistic creed, be-
comes a slave to his formula: and
thus. in the words of DR.. Heller, "un-
der the tyranny Of his PuritanisIn
turns out neither to be free himself
nor to allow others to be free" Hei
comes much nearer, however, TO Ib-
sens ideal Of Standardization than
does Peer Gynt, with his self-indulg-
ng, wish-WaShy theory of life: for
Peer, like kipling's Tomlinson. lacks
the will even TO sin, and 50 is unfit
for the sulphur-pool of hell itself
In fact, Peer, the self-Seeking, COM
promising ego,ist, represents the 9th
er extreme OF Will, which was in
carnated in Brand. But in spite of
one or two excellent m espe-
cially that OF the Button MOulder, the
real idealism Of Pee Gynt is large
ly an artistic one. best illustrated in
the scene in which Peer watts his
mothers spirit to the gates of heaven
on the wings of his fairy song. It
should, therefore. as a whole, be re-
membered as "a midsummer nights
dream rather than as the exposition
of a serious philosophy Of life.
lbsen'S next group Of plays-hiS So
| n10t drnn n q ono food
for thought. In these, Ibsen's two
leading the1nes-"the g~lorification of
a rigorous truthfulness'' and the
, necessity of leading ones own life
merge more closely into one; for
to Ibsen truthfulness means fidelity
to ones self, fidelity to ones con
victiOnS. which necesSitates war to the
death on all social shams and soul
restricting conventions. In The
League Of Youth, Ibsen boldly attacks
. political hypocrisy. and in Pillars OF
Society. he keenly satirizes both So
G cial and individual hypocrisy; but the
t dramas which best represent his idea
e that "a high level of social morality
can be reached only by the realization
e for each man Of the best in his ma.
ture" are The Dolls House. Ghosts
An Enemy OF h People, The Wilt
n Duck. and RosmershOlm.
Nora breaking up her dolls house
~ WILCu dltCI AcI dWdktuiuS COuit
e have been held together only by
soul-stultifying. conventional, moral
ity. t. Ibsen's way of thinking, cam'
nearer not only to saving her owl
r soul but toward making the world
better place to live in than Mrs. Al
Q wing by her life Of shame with he
rrofisate husband. And though
most of us are still. for better or 70
worse. SO enslaved by 1.-The ghosts O
social prejudice" as not to approx
OF NOra'S heroic treatment Of tn
1t selfish, narrow-minded Torvald He
4 mer; yet we must feel that in I1ele
Awnings case divorce would nave bee
far better for society as well as fo
herself than the giving birth to A SO
like Oswald. doomed TO suffer fo
ST the sins Of his father. eles
in both Ghosts and a Dolls Hous
1bsen'S aim seems to be not 80 niue
to encourage wives to leave incompa1
IDLE. or even bestial. husbands as I
be make a plea for true marriage. for 6
complete comradship of souls" An
in spite of the denunciations heape
e upon the author Of hosts at til
time OF its publication, this play ha
rs no doubt, done much to develop 'tf
as has recently directed toward IAN al
cient evil"
ily In An Enemy Of the People, D
he Stockmann publishes the analysis
al n polluted water on which tt
,r- prosperity of his town depends. ar
at is consequently villified by 1.-The con
pact of majority; thus Ibsen syn
-" bolizes the attitude of society towa1
himself who nae in Ghosts pulled
Of skeleton out Of the worlds soci
closet. But in this play Ibsen n
only scathingly satirizes 1.-The cor
az pact majority Of sordid nhilistin
su arrayed against himself. but he aga
az shows. somewhat as in Brand. th
an ideo~iist, however noble his all
ne may defeat his own end by a lack
moderation. Thus though his,
yet sympathizes keenly with the Enc
us of the People," he plainly implies tn
no DR.. Stockmann's failure is due n
ish only to the narrow, selfish policy
to 1.-The stagnationiSts." but at least
lily part to his WI over-zealousness.
tn And h injury done the cause
RS Truth when it is championed not
IAN ~implacable idealist' but by