The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 02 (of 11)

The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 02 (of 11)

Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcribers note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any other textual issues encountered during its preparation. Ibsen himself has told us, in his preface to the second edition of The Feast at Solhoug, how the reading of the Icelandic family-sagas suggested to him, in germ, the theme of The Vikings at Helgeland. What he first saw, he says, was the contrasted figures of the two women who ultimately became Hirdis and Dagny, together with a great banquet-scene at which an interchange of taunts and gibes should lead to tragic consequences. So far as one can gather from this statement, the particular theme which he ultimately borrowed from the Volsung-Saga had not yet entered his mind. On the other hand, the conception of the two womens characters was certainly not new to him, seeing that a similar contrast presents itself in his very earliest work, Catilina, between the aptly-named Furia and the gentle Aurelia; while even in Lady Inger of Ostrt it reappears, somewhat disguised, in the contrast between Inger Gyldenlve and her daughter Eline. While the scheme of The Vikings was still entirely vague, however, fresh influences, both of a personal and of a literary nature, intervened, and, transposing the theme from the purely dramatic viiiinto the lyrical key, he produced The Feast at Solhoug. The foster-sisters, Hirdis and Dagny became the sisters Margit and Signe, and the banquet, instead of being the culminating-point of the dramatic action, became its mere background. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 66186
Author: Ibsen, Henrik
Release Date: Aug 31, 2021
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: William Heinemann,1907
Publication Date: 1907
Publisher Country: United Kingdom

Contributors

Editor: Archer, William, 1856-1924