Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/629

 The Family in Bjfirnson's Tales 625 and equipoise in the face of the outrageous insults that an excited mob heaps 18 upon her wins the victory; a proof of her natural sagacity. This wisdom, so often displayed by Bj0rn- son's women characters, is in direct contrast to "the muddle- headed bungler" who in Ibsen's plays often carries "the banner of the ideal," such as Dr. Stockman or Gregers Werle. The sanity of Bj0rnson's characters and the sanity of the life in general which he depicts is one of the most refreshing elements that have ever entered into Norwegian literature. Practical wisdom is, in fact, the basic principle of Bj0rnson's ethical propaganda; the measure of anything is the good that it works (cf. Pa Guds Veje, 1889). Neither the "ideal demand" (det ideale Krav) nor the principle of "all or nothing" can be realized in human life and therefore they find no place in Bjo'rnson's philosophy. Furthermore, an ideal, if not attained, never in Bj^rnson's tales results in a tragedy. His constructive spirit here again builds up a spiritual edifice in which the broken ideal may furnish a most important structural element. Women more often than men grasp the ethical value of disappointments. Rafael's father broke down when his financial enterprise failed; but Bjo'mson's women characters by reason of their failures often rise to greater heights. This is beautifully illustrated in En Dag. Carried away by that sentimental idealism which the aesthetic emotions often engender in women, the mother forsakes her husband and children for a worthless reprobate, whom she, however, believes to be the ideal man. Happily, however, she discovers her error in time and returns unscathed to the bosom of her family. Her disillusion, moreover, completely restores her true valuations of life and thus her error serves its proper ends instead of so embittering her life as to result finally in a tragedy. This story serves to illustrate the constructive spirit of Bjo'rnson's doctrine of evil. Man's nature is not essentially wicked, but a divine essence slowly working its way up from a primitive state towards perfection; 19 therefore, sin is only a 18 Cf. Dr. Stockman's conduct under exactly the same conditions. 19 Cf. the expression of this doctrine in Lyset (1895) : Fra saa lavt til saadan tinde, hvad maa vi ei vid're vinne?