One may cite as characteristic examples the
hurried colloquy between Engstrand and Regina in _Ghosts_; Rebecca and
Madam Helseth in _Rosmersholm_, watching to see whether Rosmer will
cross the mill-race; and in _The Master Builder_, old Brovik's querulous
outburst, immediately followed by the entrance of Solness and his
mysterious behaviour towards Kaia. The opening of _Hedda Gabler_, with
its long conversation between Miss Tesman and the servant Bertha, comes
as near as Ibsen ever did to the conventional exposition of the French
stage, conducted by a footman and a parlour-maid engaged in dusting the
furniture. On the other hand, there never was a more masterly opening,
in its sheer simplicity, than Nora's entrance in _A Doll's House_, and
the little silent scene that precedes the appearance of Helmer.
Regarding _The Vikings_ as Ibsen's first mature production, and
surveying the whole series of his subsequent works in which he had stage
presentation directly in view,[8] we find that in only two out of the
fifteen plays does the whole action come within the frame of the
picture.
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