The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 04 (of 11)

The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 04 (of 11)

The publication of Brand, in March 1866, brought Ibsen fame (in Scandinavia) and relieved him from the immediate pressure of poverty. Two months later the Storthing voted him a yearly poet-pension of 90; and with this sum, as he wrote to the Minister who had been mainly instrumental in furthering his claim, he felt his future assured, so that he could henceforth devote himself without hindrance to his calling. This first glimpse of worldly prosperity, no doubt, brought with it the lighter mood which distinguishes Peer Gynt from its predecessor. To call it the gayest of Ibsens works is not, perhaps, to say very much. Its satire, indeed, is bitter enough; but it is not the work of an unhappy man. The character of Peer Gynt, and many of his adventures, are conceived with unmistakable gusto. Some passages even bear witness to an exuberance of animal spirits which reminds one of Ben Jonsons saying with regard to Shakespearealiquando sufflaminandus erat. The summer of 1866 Ibsen spent at Frascati, in the Palazzo Gratiosi, where he lived most comfortably and cheaply. He found Frascati and Tusculum viiiindescribably delightful. From the windows of his study he could see Soracte, rising isolated and beautiful from the level of the immense plain ... the battlefield where the chief engagement in the worlds history took place. So he writes in a letter to Paul Botten-Hansen, and immediately afterwards proceeds: I shall soon be setting to work in good earnest. I am still wrestling with my subject, but I know that I shall get the upper hand of the brute before long, and then everything will go smoothly. But was the play here referred to Peer Gynt? Perhaps not. From a letter to his publisher, Hegel, written three months later, we learn that at that time he was still turning over several themes in his mind, and that one of them dealt with the period of Christian IV. of Denmark. It is in a letter to Hegel, dated from Rome, January 5, 1867, that we find the first unmistakable reference to Peer Gynt: Now I must tell you that my new work is well under way, and will, if nothing untoward happens, be finished early in the summer. It is to be a long dramatic poem, having as its chief figure one of the Norwegian peasantrys half-mythical, fantastic heroes of recent times. It will bear no resemblance to Brand, contain no direct polemics and so forth. I have long had the subject in my thoughts; now the entire plan is worked out and written down, and the first act begun. The thing grows as I work at it, and I am certain that you will be satisfied with it. Two months later (March 8) the poem has advanced to the middle of the second act. On August 8, he sends to Hegel, from Villa Pisani, Casamicciola, Ischia, the complete manuscript of the first three acts, and writes: I am curious to hear how you like the poem. I am very hopeful myself. It may interest ixyou to know that Peer Gynt is a real person, who lived in Gudbrandsdal, probably at the end of last, or beginning of this, century; but of his exploits not much more is known than is to be found in Asbjrnsens Norwegian Fairy Tales, in the section Pictures from the Mountains. Thus I have not had very much to build upon; but so much the more liberty has been left me. It would interest me to know what Clemens Petersen thinks of the work. What Clemens Petersen did think we shall presently learn. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 66239
Author: Ibsen, Henrik
Release Date: Sep 8, 2021
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: William Heinemann,1907
Publication Date: 1907
Publisher Country: United Kingdom

Contributors

Editor: Archer, William, 1856-1924