2. Is Nora in The Doll’s House a sympathetic character? Is she believable?

  3. From plays in this volume, is it possible to draw general conclusions about Ibsen’s attitude toward women?

  4. If you were directing Hedda Gabler, what directions would you give the actress playing the title role? Be cool, superior, disdainful? Make large, theatrical gestures? Act as though you were just barely able to contain the explosive forces within you? Be seductive or manly or bitchy? Or hurt and therefore vengeful? Or cold, heartless, calculating? Something different?

  5. In some ways Ibsen can seem like a puritan—sin is always punished. Yet sometimes he seems to be a radical individualist who believes that each person should make his or her own rules. Which attitude most often prevails? Or does Ibsen strike you as an impersonal artist, one who keeps his own ideas, attitudes, and values out of sight?

  FOR FURTHER READING

  BIOGRAPHY

  Meyer, Michael. Ibsen: A Biography. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.

  EARLY REACTIONS

  Brandes, Georg. Henrik Ibsen. Translated by Jesse Muir and William Archer. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1964.

  Gosse, Edmund. Henrik Ibsen. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1907.

  Shaw, George Bernard. 1891. The Quintessence of Ibsenism. New York: Dover Publications, 1994.

  Weigand, Hermann J. 1925. The Modern Ibsen: A Reconsideration. Salem, NH: Ayer Company, 1984.

  William Archer on Ibsen:The Major Essays, 1889-1919. Edited by Thomas Postlewait. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984.

  CRITICAL STUDIES, CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED

  Northam, John. Ibsen’s Dramatic Method: A Study of the Prose Dramas. London: Faber and Faber, 1953.

  Lucas, F. L. The Drama of Ibsen and Strindberg. New York: MacMillan, 1962.

  Szondi, Peter. 1963. The Theory of Modern Drama. Edited and translated by Michael Hays. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987.

  Brustein, Robert. 1964. The Theatre of Revolt: An Approach to the Modern Drama. Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks, 1991.

  Williams, Raymond. Drama from Ibsen to Brecht. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968.

  Ibsen: The Critical Heritage. Edited by Michael Egan. London and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972.

  Gilman, Richard. The Making of Modern Drama: A Study of Buüchner, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht, Beckett, Handke. New York: Far rar, Straus and Giroux, 1974.

  Haugen, Einar. Ibsen’s Drama: Author to Audience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979.

  Quigley, Austin E. The Modern Stage and Other Worlds. New York: Methuen, 1985.

  Postlewait, Thomas. Prophet of the New Drama: William Archer and the Ibsen Campaign. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986.

  The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen. Edited by James McFarlane. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

  Shepherd-Barr, Kirsten. Ibsen and Early Modernist Theatre, 1890-1900. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.

  Goldman, Michael. Ibsen: The Dramaturgy of Fear. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.

  1 This is the poet’s own explanation of this difficult passage. Hvirvlens vœtter, he

  writes, is equivalent to Svimmelhedens ånder—that is, spirits of dizziness or vertigo.

  (Translator’s note)

  2 Literally, “bushels.” (Translator’s note)

  3 An ecclesiastical dignitary—something equivalent to a rural dean. (Transla

  tor’s note)

  4 Jon med Skjœppen—literally, “John with the Bushel”—a nickname given him in

  his days of prosperity, in allusion to his supposed bushels of money. (Translator’s

  note)

  5 It is believed in some parts of Norway that “changelings” (elf-children left in the stead of those taken away by the fairies) can, by certain spells, be made to fly away up the chimney. (Translator’s note)

  6 Sendingsfolk—literally, “folks with presents.” When the Norwegian peasants are

  bidden to a wedding feast, they bring with them presents of eatables. (Translator’s

  note)

  7 A somewhat violent peasant dance. (Translator’s note)

  8 Foss (in the North of England “force”)—a waterfall. (Translator’s note)

  9 A sort of master of ceremonies. (Translator’s note)

  10 To kick the rafters is considered a great feat in the Halling dance. The boy means that, in the open air, his leaps are not limited even by the rafters. (Translator’s note)

  11 A marriage party among the peasants will often last several days. (Translator’s note)

  12 Literally, “thoughts.” (Translator’s note)

  13 Literally, “last year.” (Translator’s note)

  14 “To read with the pastor,” the preliminary to confirmation, is currently used as synonymous with “to be confirmed.” (Translator’s note)

  15 Literally, “a reader.” (Translator’s note)

  16 Literally, “Here shall judgment be called for.” (Translator’s note)

  17 Literally, “Must be bent to the hillside,” made to bite the dust—but not in the sense of being killed. (Translator’s note)

  18 A peasant idiom. (Translator’s note)

  19 See note p. 33. (Translator’s note)

  20 Blir der Helg når en dig ser?—literally, “Does it become a holy-day (or holy-tide) when one sees you?” (Translator’s note)

  21 A malevolent water-monster. (Translator’s note)

  22 Sœter—a châlet, or small mountain farm, where the cattle are sent to pasture

  in the summer months. (Translator’s note)

  23 Foss (in the North of England “force”)—a waterfall. (Translator’s note)

  24 Kicking the rafters is a much-admired exploit in peasant dancing. See note, p.

  30. (Translator’s note)

  25 Literally, “Better than our reputation.” (Translator’s note)

  26 Ustyggelig stygt. Ustyggelig seems to be what Mr. Lewis Carroll calls a portman

  teau word, compounded of usigelig (“unspeakable”) and styg (“ugly”). The words

  might be rendered “beyond grimness grim.” (Translator’s note)

  27 A mysteriously shaped great troll. Ibsen took Peer Gynt’s encounter with the

  Boyg from the folktale “Peer Gynt and the Boyg.”

  28 Rendered harmless by magical anointing.

  29 Med lempe—literally, “by gentleness” or “easy-goingness.” “Quiescence” is some

  where near the idea. (Translator’s note)

  30 Tyri, resinous pine-wood which burns with a bright blaze. (Translator’s note)

  31 Umistelig—unlosable, indispensable, irreplaceable. (Translator’s note)

  32 Lensmand, the lowest functionary in the Norwegian official scale—a sort of

  parish officer. (Translator’s note)

  33 “Tyri,” resinous pine-wood which burns with a bright blase. (Translator’s note)

  34 Salig provstinde—literally, “the late Mrs. Provost.” (Translator’s note)

  35 Tak for skyds—literally, “thanks for the drive.”

  36 In the original “Master Cotton.” (Translator’s note)

  37 This name is comic; it is Swedish for “trumpet blast.”

  38 In the original (early editions) “Werry well.” (Translator’s note)

  39 This name is comic; it is French for “balloon.”

  40 Taste (French). All foreign words used in the translation appear in the original.

  41 Tone (French).

  42 Bachelor (French).

  43 This name is comic; it is German for “boars head.”

  44 This may not be a very lucid or even very precise rendering of Verdensborger

  domsforpagtning; but this line, and indeed the whole speech, is pure burlesque; and

  the exact sense of nonsense is naturally elusive. (Translator’s note)

  45 Original character (German).

  46 Isn’t it (German).

  47 Oh, well (German).

  48 Literally, “pack-camel.”

  49 Damn (French).

  50 Level (French).

  51 Sweet idleness (Italian).

  52 In the original kejser. We have elsewhere used the word “Kaiser,” but in this scene, and in scenes 7 and 8 of this act, the ordinary English form seemed preferable. (Translator’s note)

  53 Comic misuse of the French expression for “in the manner of.”

  54 Small German principality.

  55 In one piece (French).

  56 An allusion to the spurs with which Charles XII is said to have torn the caftan of the Turkish Vizier who announced to him that the Sultan had concluded a truce with Russia. The boots and spurs, it would appear, have been preserved, but with the buckles missing. (Translator’s note)

  57 Mr. Cotton seems to have confounded Olympus with Parnassus. (Translator’s note)

  58 In the end (French).

  59 An allusion to the attitude of Sweden during the Danish War of 1863-64, with

  special reference to the diplomatic notes of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Grev

  Manderström. He is also aimed at in the character of Hussein in the last scene of

  this act. (Translator’s note)

  60 This is not to be taken as a burlesque instance of the poet’s supposed preoccupa

  tion with questions of heredity, but simply as an allusion to the fact that, in the East,

  thieving and receiving are regular and hereditary professions. (Translator’s note)

  61 This proposal was seriously mooted about ten years after the appearance of Peer

  Gynt. (Translator’s note)

  62 Or “ego.” (Translator’s note)

  63 Peer is thinking of a line from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust: “Das Ewig

  Weibliche zieht uns hinan,” which means “The eternal feminine draws us upward.”

  However, he misquotes with words that mean “The eternal feminine attracts us.”

  64 Intimate, face-to-face encounter (French).

  65 Take note; literally, note well (Latin).

  66 Oh, well (French).

  67 Literally, “you’re looed” or “euchred.” (Translator’s note)

  68 Literally, “behave as though sober and wakeful.” (Translator’s note).

  69 Literally, “spiritual.” (Translator’s note)

  70 Sidst—literally, “when last we met.” (Translator’s note)

  71 In the Bible, Genesis 39, Potiphar was the commander of the Pharaoh’s guard;

  his wife tried to seduce Joseph.

  72 King of Sparta, who in 480 B.C. died defending the Thermopylae pass against

  the Persian army.

  73 This name is comic; in German it literally means “comprehended field.”

  74 The whole sentence means “Excuse me, Sir—! A question of life and death.”

  75 Extraordinary (German).

  76 This is understood to refer to the authors of the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint. We are unable to account for the hundred and sixty recruits to their company. (Translator’s note)

  77 Karl Friedrich von Münchausen (1720-1797), known as Baron Liar for telling stories of improbable adventures; he claimed to have made a fox jump out of its skin.

  78 Huhu is a language reformer. His ideas are a caricature of a movement to insti

  tutionalize colloquial Norwegian as the official language of Norway. At the time of

  Ibsen, the official language was still heavily influenced by Danish. It was in this Danish

  influenced language, and not present-day Norwegian, that Ibsen himself wrote.

  79 Literally, “generation.”

  80 Literally, “uninterpreted.”

  81 An allusion to the long period of stagnation in the history of Norway under the

  Danish rule—say, from 1400 to 1800. (Translator’s note)

  82 Peasant (Arabic).

  83 See note p. 109. (Translator’s note)

  84 The pounce-box (for strewing “pounce” or sand on undried ink) had not yet been quite superseded by blotting-paper. (Translator’s note)

  85 En påholden pen. Underskrive med påholden pen—to sign by touching a pen which is guided by another. (Translator’s note)

  86 For Hallingskarv and, in the same speech, Jokel and Folgefånn, the translator has provided the note “mountains and glaciers.”

  87 For Blåhö and, in the following lines, Galdhöpiggen and Hårteig, the translator has provided the note “mountains and glaciers.”

  88 Angst—literally, “dread” or “terror”—probably means here something like “conviction of sin.” The influence of the Danish theologian Sören Kierkegård may be traced in this passage. (Translator’s note)

  89 Literally, “Are set on screws.” (Translator’s note)

  90 Tolder, the biblical “publican.” (Translator’s note)

  91 Lensmand, the lowest functionary in the Norwegian official scale—a sort of

  parish officer. (Translator’s note)

  92 A mountain in the Jotunheim. The name means “glittering peak.” (Translator’s

  note)

  93 Den tid den sorg—literally, “That time that sorrow” or “care.”

  94 Literally, “the bushel.” See note p. 15. (Translator’s note)

  95 Reference to the folk tale of Peer Gynt, in which a white bear scares the trolls.

  96 Digter: means also “poet.” ( Translator’s note)

  97 A somewhat violent peasant dance. (Translator’s note)

  98 This and the following line, literally translated, run thus: “Life, as it’s called,

  has a fox behind its ear. But when one grasps at him, Reynard takes to his heels.”

  “To have a fox behind the ear” is a proverbial expression for insincerity, double

  dealing. (Translator’s note)

  99 Sidst—literally, “when last we met.” (Translator’s note)

  100 See note p. 164. (Translator’s note)

  101 Trolls were thought to reside in thread balls.

  102 Pöl, otherwise Svovlpöl—the sulphur pool of hell. (Translator’s note)

  103 See note p. 177. (Translator’s note)

  104 Literally, “With Peter and Paul.”

  105 The Royal Mint is at Kongsberg, a town in southern Norway.

  106 Den tid den sorg—literally, “That time that sorrow” or “care.” (Translator’s note)

  107 Hun gik nu for koldt vand og lud—literally, “to live on cold water and lye”—to

  live wretchedly and be badly treated.

  108 Literally, “Wrote my motto behind your ear.” (Translator’s note)

  109 Clearly the troll-substitute for “in black and white.” (Translator’s note)

  110 Literally, “on a naked hill.” (Translator’s note)

  111 To the waves (Latin); here the phrase means getting shipwrecked or lost.

  112 Literally, “the ashes.” (Translator’s note)

  113 Out! (German).

  114 Literally, seeing into the blue (German); an adaptation of the idiom for “going

  into the blue,” which means having no goal or purpose.

  115 Literally, “knock out that tooth.” (Translator’s note)

  116 Bra litet rolig.

  117 Di Buona Speranza: Cape of Good Hope.

  118 “Selvejer-Adlen.” Selvejer (literally, “self-owner”) means a freeholder, as opposed

  to a husmand or tenant. There is of course a play upon words in the original. (Trans

  lator’s note)

  119 I min Tro, i mit Håb og i min Kjœrlighed. We have entirely sacrificed the metre of

  the line, feeling it impossible to mar its simplicity by any padding. Kjœrlighed also

  means “charity,” in the biblical sense. (Translator’s note)

  120 In the original “Fru Linde.” (Translator’s note)

  121 In the original “Anne-Marie.” (Translator’s note)

  122 Spillefugl—literally, “playbird,” meaning a gambler. (Translator’s note)

  123 The dollar was the old unit of currency in Norway. The crown was substituted for it shortly before the date of this play. (Translator’s note)

  124 Död og pine—literally, “death and torture,” but by usage a comparatively mild oath. (Translator’s note)

  125 Originally a southern Italian folk dance, named after a poisonous spider.