The play has been translated into
English under the title, "A Gauntlet," London, 1894.
It will be observed by every reader of "A Glove" that it is not a drama,
according to our American notion. It has very little dramatic action. It
might be styled a series of brilliant and searching debates concerning a
theme of great moment. The same definition applies, though in a lesser
degree, to "The New System" (1879), a five-act play of great power and
beauty. By power I do not mean noise, but convincing impressiveness and
concentration of interest. One could scarcely imagine anything farther
removed from the ha! and ho! style of melodrama.
"The New System" is primarily social satire. It is a psychological
analysis of the effect of the "small state" upon its citizens. It is an
expansion and exemplification of the proposition (Act I., 1) that "while
the great states cannot subsist without sacrificing their small people
by the thousands, small states cannot subsist without the sacrifice of
many of their great men, nay of the very greatest.
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