I do not say he did: I merely
propound the question for the student's consideration. One thing we must
recognize in dramatic art as in all other human affairs; namely, that
perfection, if not unattainable, is extremely rare. We have often to
make a deliberate sacrifice at one point in order to gain some greater
advantage at another; to incur imperfection here that we may achieve
perfection there. It is no disparagement to the great masters to admit
that they frequently show us rather what to avoid than what to do.
Negative instruction, indeed, is in its essence more desirable than
positive. The latter tends to make us mere imitators, whereas the
former, in saving us from dangers, leaves our originality unimpaired.
It is curious to note that, in another play, Ibsen did actually transfer
the _erregende Moment_, the joining of issue, from the second act to the
first. In his early draft of _Rosmersholm_, the great scene in which
Rosmer confesses to Kroll his change of views did not occur until the
second act.
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