ghtly shut.

He died, in April 1910, in Paris, where for some years he had always
spent his winters, and was buried at home with every mark of honour and
regret, a Norwegian warship having been sent to convey his remains back
to his own land.

He was a man of very lovable personality and of the kindest heart;
easily moved by any tale of oppression or injustice, and of wide-armed
(albeit sometimes in judicious) generosity; more apt, in the affairs
of everyday life, to be governed by his heart than by his head, and as
simple as a child in many matters. His wife was an ideal helpmate to
him, and their family life very happy.

The Newly-Married Couple (1865) offers a considerable contrast to the
other two plays here presented. It belongs to the school of Scribe
and the "soliloquy," and the author avails himself of the recognised
dramatic conventions of the day. At the same time, though the characters
may be conventional in type, they are, thanks to Bjornson's sense of
humour, alive; and the theme of the estrangement and reconciliation of
the "newly-married couple" is treated with delicacy and charm. It is
true that it is almost unbelievable that the hero could be so stupid as
to allow the "confidante" to accompany his young wife when he at last
succeeds in wresting her from her parents' jealous clutches; but, on the
other hand, that lady, with her anonymous novel that revealed the truth
to the young couple, was necessary to the plot as a "dea ex machina."
The play was, and is, immensely popular on the Scandinavian stage, and
still holds the boards on others. It has been translated into Swedish,
German, English, Dutch, Italian, Polish and Finnish.

Leonarda (1879) marks just as striking an advance upon Bjornson's early
plays as the first of Ibsen's "social dramas" did upon his. Unreal stage
conventions have disappeared, the characterisation is convincing, and
the dialogue, if more prolix than Ibsen's (as is throughout the case
with Bjornson), is always interesting and individual. The emotional
theme of the play, the love of an older woman for her adopted daughter's
young lover, is treated with the poetic touch that pervades all
Bjornson's work; and the controversial theme, that of religious
tolerance, with a sane restraint. It cannot be denied, however, that
Bjornson's changed and unorthodox attitude towards religious matters--an
attitude little expected except by those who knew him best--contributed
a good deal towards