Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/614

 610 Sturtevant II FAMILY LIFE IN BJ^RNSON'S TALES The chief purpose of this article is to present a psychological analysis of Norwegian family life, as represented in Bj0rnson's prose tales, 11 with especial reference to woman's social status. Bj^rnson based his whole system of ethics upon a spirit of love for humanity. This love for humanity, his naivete of thought and simplicity of language made him the ideal expo- nent of popular ideals. In his prose tales Bj0rnson revealed the heart of the Nor- wegian nation. Even tho his Romantic ideals lent to the description of rural life and to the delineation of the peasant's character a decidedly idyllic tinge, nevertheless, the Norwegian people found therein the substance of its national life; the distinctively national was given an idealized form of expression. Bj^rnson's idealization of the peasant's character (particularly that of the mother and the child 12 ) was made all the more convincing by reason of the author's sensitive and sympathetic insight into human nature. a) The Social Problems Involved in Family Life The social problems involved in family life, as based upon Bj^rnson's prose tales, may be briefly summarized as follows. For the proper education of the child, an open and sympa- thetic relation between parent and child is absolutely impera- tive. Tomas Rendalen in Det Flager i Byen og pa Havnen (1884), for instance, expressly states 13 that no educational theories can possibly prove successful, unless based upon this fundamental principle. This relation of love and confidence 11 Bj^rnson's dramas are likewise fundamentally psychological studies; cf. Chr. Collin, II, 18, who characterises, for instance, Mettem Slagene as "et lidet psychologisk mesterverk." 12 B j^rnson idealized, for instance, the child in human nature in his poem Barneti Vor Sjal: Den st0rste mann pa jorden ma pleje barnet i sit bryst, og lytte, selv i torden, til hvad det hvisker tyst." 18 "Al opdragelse som i dette aemne skal utrette noget, ssetter som uom- gjaengelig betingelse: full for trolighed mellem barn ogjoroddre. I alle fall mellem barn og mor."