Ibsen did not write for a coterie, though special and regrettable
circumstances have made him, in England, something of a coterie-poet. In
Scandinavia, in Germany, even in America, he casts his spell over great
audiences, if not through long runs (which are a vice of the merely
commercial theatre), at any rate through frequently-repeated
representations. So far as I know, history records no instance of a
playwright failing to gain the ear of his contemporaries, and then being
recognized and appreciated by posterity. Alfred de Musset might,
perhaps, be cited as a case in point; but he did not write with a view
to the stage, and made no bid for contemporary popularity. As soon as it
occurred to people to produce his plays, they were found to be
delightful. Let no playwright, then, make it his boast that he cannot
disburden his soul within the three hours' limit, and cannot produce
plays intelligible or endurable to any audience but a band of adepts. A
popular audience, however, does not necessarily mean the mere riff-raff
of the theatrical public.
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