These reasons are clear and apparently adequate; yet it may
be doubted whether the dramatist did not lose more than he gained by
introducing even this small degree of complexity. It was certainly not
necessary to explain the difference of age and character between Lona
and Betty; while as for the money, there would have been nothing
improbable in supposing that a wealthy uncle had marked his disapproval
of Lona's strong-mindedness by bequeathing all his property to her
younger sister. Again, there is no reason why Hilmar should not have
been a brother of Johan and Betty;[5] in which case we should have had
the simple family group of two brothers and two sisters, instead of the
comparatively complex relationship of a brother and sister, a
half-sister and a cousin.
These may seem very trivial considerations: but nothing is really
trivial when it comes to be placed under the powerful lens of theatrical
presentation. Any given audience has only a certain measure of attention
at command, and to claim attention for inessentials is to diminish the
stock available for essentials.
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