Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/613

 The Family in Bjtfrnson's Tales 609 By her attacks upon the inherited traditions with regard to woman's status in society Camilla Collett had paved the the way for a revolution of ideas which B j^rnson naturally and readily followed. The deep impression which Amtmandens Dtftre left upon Bj^rnson's mind may be judged from the fact that only two years after the appearance of this work he him- self took up the traditional theme of "the unhappily married woman" in Mellem Slagene (1857) and the next year in Halte Hulda (1858). In Halte Hulda, furthermore, the same suffering is analyzed in dramatic form as that which the unfortunate heroine in Fru Collett's novel endures; that depression, which in Amtmandens D0tre was chronic, in Bj^rnson's Halte Hulda finds its solution in a violent tragic explosion, as it were. That he was perhaps conscious of a tone in Halte Hulda out of keeping with his literary ideals is evident from the fact that he made a studied effort to counteract the depressing influence of Hulda's tragic love by introducing the bright and happy relations of Thordis to Gunnar. Bj^rnson was evidently struggling to free himself from the depressing atmosphere of the Old Norse sagas. His first great effort in this direction was the composi- tion of De Nygifte (published in 1865), which he had already outlined as early as the year 1855 (cf. Christen Collin, II, 16). Furthermore, much that Bj0rnson expressed in his attacks upon woman's inherited status in society, both in his dramas (cf. Leonarda 1879, En Hanske 1883) and in his prose tales (cf. Magnhild 1877, Stjv 1882), undoubtedly had its inspiration (in part at least) in Fru Collett's 9 courageous and indefatigable labor in behalf of her sex. Yet Bj^rnson never openly acknowl- edged any personal indebtedness to Fru Collett, and when Amtmandens D0tre appeared he misunderstood, according to his own testimony, 10 the social importance of this epoch-making novel. 9 Cf. Lilly Heber, "Bj0rnstjerne Bj^rnson og Camilla Collett," Bjfirnson- studier, p. 316, Kra. 1911. 10 Cf. Morgeribladet, 1880, in reply to Fru Collett's accusation that he had criticized her unfavorably out of a spirit of literary enmity: "Jeg skj^nner rigtignok ikke nu, hvad jeg kan have fundet stygt i denne Bog for mer end tyve Aar siden; sandsynligvis bar jeg sagt "uhyggelig"; men ogsaa dette Udtryk vilde jeg nu neppe have brugt. Sagen var, at dengang "Amtmandens D0tre" kom ud, skj^nnede ikke jeg, hvad her begyndte eller dettes Ret."