Catiline and the Burial Mound by Henrik Ibsen (review)

Book Reviews HENRIK mSEN. Cali/illeand the Burial Mound. Translated from Dano-Norwegian, with Introductions by Thomas F. Van Laan. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1992. pp. xi, 496. $80.00. At long last Ibsen is getting the treatment he deserves! Van Laan, as far as ] know, has given us the most comprehensive study of CalWlle and The Burial M Oll1ld to be found in any language. The closest analogy might be The New Variorum Shakespeare, with the obvious difference that Shakespeare's texts have been much morc widely commented upon than Ibsen's. Nevertheless, Van Laan's intention that everything be said that needs to be said about the establishment and elucidation of the dramatic text was surely the intention of H.H. Furness and his successors. Perhaps the best way to review Van Laan's work is simply to outline its contents. First there is a general "Introduction to Cari/ilfe" (3- 123). This includes "Composition and Reception," "Sources," ("Specific Sources," "Romanticism," and "Ibsen Himself'). In the section devoted to "Composition and Reception" early printed versions and manuscripts are collated, and reasons for adopting a particular reading are explained. Van Laan continues with a full discussion of "Sources." "Specific Sources" include Sallust's Carilinae Coniumlio. Cicero, of course, is not neglected, nor is PaludanMUlier 's "Vestalinden." One important source is the prevailing Romanticism of the day. "Cati linc's divided soul is one aspect of an overall characterization defining him as a somewhat modified and softened version of the Byronic hero," disenchanted and isolated, "responding only to the abysses within himself and the more awesome and exalted aspects of Nature" (59). He is "at odds with, misunderstood by, and finally rebellious against SOCiety," this man "who carries with him the burden of past crimes and misdeeds ... but who at bottom is nonetheless motivated by the highest and best ideals" (59). Finally, the revolutionary concerns in Ibsen's own early poetry and his "dream of accomplishing something important and valuable" (69) are evident in the 274 Book Reviews play. "Analysis and Evaluation" follow. Here Van Laan's remarkable critical gifts are particularly in evidence. There are discussions of "Form," the "Action," "Ca/ilille as Tragedy," "Co/ilille and the Later Ibsen" - all leading to an overall "Evaluation." The two versions of the play and the translations thereof are then compared. The author cites many minor alterations "that affect the play's narrative surface, its dramatic power, its characterizations, and, to some extent, its thematic ideas" (108). We are now ready for the complete translation of the two versions (1850 and I875), each with notes and the 1875 version with the famous "Preface." Exactly the same treatment, in the same order, is accorded lbsen's Dramatic Poem ill One Act: The Burial Mound. There is a general "Jntroduction" to the play, including "Composition and Reception"; "Sources, Analys is, and Evaluation"; "The Revised Version" ( 1854), "This Translation," and "Notes." The translations of the two versions are then given, each liberally annotated. Technical problems with this landmark volume? Hardly any! Yes, "Catiline" is once spelled "Cataline" (135), and, with all the other annotations, "lur-hom" (446) might have been explained for the non-Norwegian reader. Then there is the price, $80, not within the range of the ordinary student. Nevertheless, putting the above minor considerations aside, Professor Van Laan provides a model for future scholars to emulate. The major prose plays from 1877 to 1899 may not need such copious annotation and commentary, such attention to sources and background. But we are already more than a century away from most of these plays. Modes of thinking and feeling differ today from the time A Doll House shocked Europe. And, of course, we are very far away from many of Ibsen's sources, e.g., Paludan-MUller, Oehlenschlager, Finally, are we, for example. always aware of the real implications of some of Ibsen's words? Consider J forvondle in A Doll Hottse. It means "to transform" in a moral sense, a deep and radical conversion. Could it also be a theological term, indicating what happens to the bread and wine in the Eucharist? There is afon'andling - a change, a transformation...