The Pretenders, and Two Other Plays (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from The Pretenders, and Two Other PlaysThe three plays translated in the present volume illustrate three very different and characteristic phases of Ibsen's genius. The stirring historical drama, The Pretenders, which appeared in 1864 and was his first really great achievement, was written at white heat when Ibsen was five-and-thirty and his intellectual powers were just touching their full development. Pillars of Society, which was completed in 1877, was the earliest of the "social dramas" on which his fame will always mainly rest, and betrays some signs of experiment. In it the dramatist has not yet quite found his feet on the ground which he trod with the triumphant assurance of a master by the time Rosmersholm, which is typical of his intellectual power at its highest, appeared in 1886.The Pretenders was written while Ibsen was still in Christiania, previous to his long voluntary exile from Norway. He had, some years before, been attracted by the subject of the historical struggle between Haakon and Skule for the crown, and circumstances now seemed to conspire (or, at least, Ibsen seems to have thought so) to give him a clearer insight into the conflict of character between the two heroes. The rough handling which his countrymen had accorded to his last play, Love's Comedy, and the small advance he had been able (in spite of the growth of his powers) to make in popular estimation, contrasted cruelly in his eyes with the rapidly increasing popularity of his friend and rival, Bjornson, who was advancing from success to success with serene confidence. These were the circumstances that enabled Ibsen to portray so vividly in The Pretenders Skule's anxious craving for success, and the conflict between his torturing lack of self-confidence and his uneasy consciousness that Haakon's success, though easier, was deserved.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.