Ibsen, on the other hand, drew upon
no storehouse of tradition. He had to convey to his audience everything
that he wanted them to know; and this was often a long and complex
series of facts.
The earliest play in which Ibsen can be said to show maturity of
craftsmanship is _The Vikings at Helgeland_. It is curious to note that
both in _The Vikings_ and in _The Pretenders_, two plays which are in
some measure comparable with Shakespearean tragedies, he opens with a
firmly-touched _einleitende Akkord_. In _The Vikings_, Ornulf and his
sons encounter and fight with Sigurd and his men, very much after the
fashion of the Montagues and Capulets in _Romeo and Juliet_. In _The
Pretenders_ the rival factions of Haakon and Skule stand outside the
cathedral of Bergen, intently awaiting the result of the ordeal which is
proceeding within; and though they do not there and then come to blows,
the air is electrical with their conflicting ambitions and passions. His
modern plays, on the other hand, Ibsen opens quietly enough, though
usually with some more or less arresting little incident, calculated to
arouse immediate curiosity.
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