one
cannot help wondering how he would have planned _A Doll's House_ had he
written it in the 'eighties instead of the 'seventies. One can imagine a
long opening scene between Helmer and Nora in which a great deal of the
necessary information might have been conveyed; while it would have
heightened by contrast the effect of the great final duologue as we now
possess it. Such information as could not possibly have been conveyed in
dialogue with Helmer might, one would think, have been left for Nora's
first scene with Krogstad, the effect of which it would have enhanced.
Perhaps Mrs. Linden might with advantage have been retained, though not
in her present character of confidant, in order to show Nora in relation
to another woman.]

_CHAPTER VII_

EXPOSITION: ITS END AND ITS MEANS

We have passed in rapid survey the practices of Shakespeare and Ibsen in
respect of their point and method of attack upon their themes. What
practical lessons can we now deduce from this examination?

One thing is clear: namely, that there is no inherent superiority in one
method over another. There are masterpieces in which the whole crisis
falls within the frame of the picture, and masterpieces in which the
greater part of the crisis has to be conveyed to us in retrospect, only
the catastrophe being transacted before our eyes. Genius can manifest
itself equally in either form.

But each form has its peculiar advantages. You cannot, in a
retrospective play like _Rosmersholm_, attain anything like the
magnificent onward rush of Othello, which moves--

"Like to the Pontick sea
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontick and the Hellespont."

The movement of _Rosmersholm_ is rather like that of a winding river,
which flows with a full and steady current, but seems sometimes to be
almost retracing its course. If, then, you aim at rapidity of movement,
you will choose a theme which leaves little or nothing to retrospect;
and conversely, if you have a theme the whole of which falls easily and
conveniently within the frame of the picture, you will probably take
advantage of the fact to give your play animated and rapid movement.

There is an undeniable attraction in a play which constitutes, so to
speak, one brisk and continuous adventure, begun, developed, and ended
before our eyes. For light comedy in particular is this a desirable
form, and for romant