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consistently strove to uproot every stone of our
social structure. Above all did he thunder his
fiery indictment against the four cardinal sins of
modern society: the Lie inherent in our social
arrangements; Sacrifice and Duty, the twin curses
that fetter the spirit of man; the
narrow-mindedness and pettiness of Provincialism, that stifles all
growth; and the Lack of Joy and Purpose in Work
which turns life into a vale of misery and tears.
So strongly did Ibsen feel on these matters, that
in none of his works did he lose sight of them.
Indeed, they recur again and again, like a
Leitmotif in music, in everything he wrote. These
issues form the keynote to the revolutionary
significance of his dramatic works, as well as to the
psychology of Henrik Ibsen himself.
It is, therefore, not a little surprising that most
of the interpreters and admirers of Ibsen so
enthusiastically accept his art, and yet remain utterly
indifferent to, not to say ignorant of, the message
contained in it. That is mainly because they are,
in the words of Mrs. Alving, “so pitifully afraid
of the light.” Hence they go about seeking
mysteries and hunting symbols, and completely losing
sight of the meaning that is as clear as daylight
in all of the works of Ibsen, and mainly in the
group of his social plays, “The Pillars of
Society,” “A Doll s House,” “Ghosts,” and “An
Enemy of the People.”
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