Still, explain it as we may, the
fact remains that in no later play does Ibsen initiate us into the
preliminaries of his action by so hackneyed and unwieldy a device. It is
no conventional canon, but a maxim of mere common sense, that the
dramatist should be chary of introducing characters who have no personal
share in the drama, and are mere mouthpieces for the conveyance of
information. Nowhere else does Ibsen so flagrantly disregard so obvious
a principle of dramatic economy.[10]
When we turn to his next play, _A Doll's House_, we find that he has
already made a great step in advance. He has progressed from the First,
Second, and Third Gentlemen of the Elizabethans to the confidant[11] of
the French classic drama. He even attempts, not very successfully, to
disguise the confidant by giving her a personal interest, an effective
share, in the drama. Nothing can really dissemble the fact that the long
scene between Nora and Mrs. Linden, which occupies almost one-third of
the first act, is simply a formal exposition, outside the action of the
play.
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