" The smooth, crafty
man, "who can smile ingratiatingly like a woman," rises to the higher
heights; while the bold, strong, capable man, who is unversed in the
arts of humility and intrigue, struggles hopelessly, and perhaps in the
end goes to the dogs, because he is denied the proper field for his
energy. Never has Bjoernson written anything more convincing,
penetrating, subtly satirical. He cuts deep; every incision draws blood.
A Norwegian who reads the play cannot well rid himself of a startled
sense of exposure that is at first wounding to his patriotism. It is
mortifying to have to admit that things are thus in Norway. And the
worst of it is that there appears to be no remedy. The condition is,
according to Bjoernson, inherent in all small states which cripple the
souls of men, stunt their growth, and contract their horizon.
The first act opens with a conversation between the civil engineers
Kampe and Ravn, and the former's son Hans, who has just returned from a
prolonged sojourn abroad. The keynote is struck in the sarcastic remark
of Ravn, that in a small society only small truths can be tolerated--of
the kind that takes twenty to the inch; but great truths are apt to be
explosive and should therefore be avoided, for they might burst the
whole society.
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