As
it is, the logical deduction from M. Sardou's fable is that, though
spirit communications are genuine enough, they are never of the
slightest use; but we can scarcely suppose that that was what he
intended to convey.
It may be said, and perhaps with truth, that what Sardou lacked in this
instance was not logic, but courage: he felt that an audience would
accept episodic miracles, but would reject supernatural interference at
a determining crisis in the play. In that case he would have done better
to let the theme alone: for the manifest failure of logic leaves the
play neither good drama nor good argument. This is a totally different
matter from Ibsen's treatment of the supernatural in such plays as _The
Lady from the Sea_, _The Master Builder_ and _Little Eyolf_. Ibsen, like
Hawthorne, suggests without affirming the action of occult powers. He
shows us nothing that is not capable of a perfectly natural explanation;
but he leaves us to imagine, if we are so disposed, that there may be
influences at work that are not yet formally recognized in physics and
psychology.
Pages:
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409