If the strange and fascinating creations of Ibsen's last
years were to be judged by ordinary dramaturgic canons, we should have
to admit that in _Little Eyolf_ he was guilty of the latter fault, since
in point of sheer "strength," in the common acceptation of the word, the
situation at the end of the first act could scarcely be outdone, in that
play or any other. The beginner, however, is far more likely to put too
little than too much into his first act: he is more likely to leave our
interest insufficiently stimulated than to carry us too far in the
development of his theme. My own feeling is that, as a general rule,
what Freytag calls the _erregende Moment_ ought by all means to fall
within the first act. What is the _erregende Moment_? One is inclined to
render it "the firing of the fuse." In legal parlance, it might be
interpreted as the joining of issue. It means the point at which the
drama, hitherto latent, plainly declares itself. It means the
germination of the crisis, the appearance on the horizon of the cloud no
bigger than a man's hand.
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