The Drama of Ibsen and Strindberg by F. L. Lucas (review)

BOOK REVIEWS THE DRAMA OF IBSEN AND STRINDBERG, by F. L. Lucas, Cassell, London, 1962, 484 pp. Price 50/-. Mr. Lucas divides his book into two sections, the first and by far the longest (299 pages) being devoted to Ibsen and the second to Strindberg. He begins each section with an account of the life and character of the respective authors and then devotes subsequent chapters to the individual plays he considers most important. The work ends with a short chapter which compares and contrasts the two Scandinavians. It is possible to treat Ibsen and Strindberg fairly in the same volume if the writer's approach is relatively factual, but Lucas's method of approach is extremely personal. This clears his book of any charge of over-dry scholarship, but it has also caused him to take sides. Since he believes that literature ought to edify the reader and that both a work of art and its author should be sane and well-balanced, it follows that by his standards Ibsen is a great author and Strindberg is not. The first section of this book is by far the better. One might question the necessity of summarizing Ibsen's best known plays act by act, but one is soon caught up in Lucas's enthusiasm and accepts his arguments demonstrating that Ibsen was a shrewd psychologist, even a humorist, and above all a courageous man of sound judgment. Strindberg, on the other hand, fares very badly. Lucas writes that "much of his work seems to me not only bad but evil" (p. 459), and having decided this he seems unable to judge Strindberg's works from the point of view of art. The chapters on the naturalistic plays contain occasional grudging compliments-Lucas admits, for instance, that Froken Julie is constructed with "a neatness and lightness, a simplicity and a unity even more marked than in Strindberg's previous works" (p. 375 )-but such compliments are far outweighed by scathing criticism. Eminent critics, most notably Martin Lamm, have admired the characterization in Froken Julie, but here we are told that the play "for hero and heroine has a lout and a trollop" (p. 363) while Kristin is "an odious kitchen-wench" (p. 367). The choice of vocabulary shows Lucas's personal approach at its worst. When he comes to the post-Inferno plays, Lucas finds no artistic merit at all. In his section on Ibsen he complained bitterly about the injustice the Norwegian suffered at the hands of uncomprehending English critics when his plays were first performed in London. Here, however, he dismisses the later Strindberg and all the dramatists, both German and American, who were most obviously influenced by him in tones strangely reminiscent of these critics. Lucas impresses his reader by the breadth of his reading-he refers frequently to writers Ianging from the classical world to the present day, and he has read the Scandinavian sources in the original. But one wishes he had confined himself to Ibsen, for there his enthusiasm leads to generosity. IRENE SCOBBIE Cambridge THE CHAMBER PLAYS, by August Strindberg, translated by Evert Sprinchom, Seabury Quinn, Jr., and Kenneth Petersen, with an Introduction by Evert Sprinchom. New York, Dutton, 1962. $4.50. Dutton Paperback D-107, $1.85. Of the four plays included in this group, the best known is The Ghost Sonata, here at last subtitled "Opus Three of The Chamber Plays." The other members 379 ...