WHO WAS "LADY FROM THE SEA."

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10580, 8 October 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

WHO WAS "LADY FROM THE SEA."

1 Mr George Moore, the Irish novelist, has announced a book for the early

•autumn. It is said to present among its characters many of his # contemporaries in the Irish capital.' Indeed, since this fact -has leaked out, it is further asserted that "half-Dublin is furious because tliey are in 'the book, and the other halfi furious because they aro not." Many authors are -not so frank- about their prototypes. - Just now - there -is discussion over the original of Ibsen's' "Lady from the Sea." A young woman who forged a ■ -'cheque to save her husband's life is known to be the model of Nora, although she did not leave her husband as did the heroine of "A Doll's House." - Hcdda Gabler had her counterpart in •' real lifo —a young woman whoso strong character and absence of fitting occupation -brought her into many uncomfortable positions. But who was thu "Lady from the Soa?" John-Paulsen, a .well-known Norwegian author and a great- friend of Ibsen, writes, in his recently'published "Memoirs": "Not very long ago it was said that a Danish actress whom Ibsen met at a | little watering-place on the coast ot | Denmark inspired his conception ui | the character. This statement sui- | prised mo very much. I thought thac ' all -Ibsenitcs .knew that the prototype of Ibsen's remarkable heroine is no less a person-than Camilla Collett, as Ibsen admits iu a letter to the celebrated authoress." . Mr Paulsen goes on with some observations about Ibsen that may throw lio-ht on the work of expatriated authors. Henry James, for example, lived abroad for twenty-five years without once in that time visiting his native land; but he seems in the interval to have poured forth a stream cf novels that mark with contemporary exactness the changing typo of American character. Mr Paulsen writes- ■' During his long stay in foreign lands, Ibsen lived a very secluded life, and received but few people. But in return he observed the chosen ones all the more carefully, especially if they wcro compatriots. Once when I expressed surprise at his ability of keeping abreast-with what was going on iu Norwav while living so far away from home, Ibsen said that every Norwegian who crossed his threshold seemed to bring with him the atmosphere of his country, and thus became his model. And when the characteristic traits were silhouetted against a foreign background he seemed to see moie clearly the national faults and virtues. It was natural, therefore, that a noble and remarkable woman like Gamiin Collett should become the object 01 Ibsen's special observation. "It must have been tempting lor a poet to analyse this complex onu?-1 matic nature. Ibsen had admireo lidfrom his youth up and her remarkable works of fiction had influenced several respects. It was 111 Drosoej. in the early seventies that Mrs CollcU, who was then on her way to Italy,_rrs u appeared in Ibsen's family circl-.-. where she was immediately received as 2, dear and long lost friend. . - • ".Almost everv evening she came to , tea at Ibsen's and naturally, when she was around, conversation inevitably turned on .woman's rights. Ibsen* :dea of woman's position had been most conservative if not religiously orthodox up to this time, but now it slowly underwent a change. Mrs Ibsen had li.'r share in the change, tor she, too, lelt Mie subtle influence of Camilla Collett s arguments. Otherwise -Mrs Ibsen was very hard to influence. Not very many years later Ibsen's new point of view found expression in 'A Do 1 s House, which Camilla Collett hailed m the must enthusiastic way. •<,•-., , "When' the ' Lady from the >Sea first appeared I was .in Copenhagen where Magdalena Thoresen Ibsen s mother-in-law, and Mrs Collett were also stopping. As everybody else we spoke of the new play and I was amused to find that both' ladies flattered themselves upon having inspired tho dramatist. Mrs Thoresen, who was a woman of tho world, hinted vaguely and delicately at it, and, }n a way, it was not-strange that she should consider herself the heroine for like Ellida, she was extremely fond ot the water.. But as soon as Mrs Colloti. had read the book she felt that she was Ellida. 'I am the "Lady from the Sea," ' she said with characteristic frankness. She said it as calmly as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. I objected that Airs Collett had nothing to do with the sea, that she had been brought up in a little inland village and-that she was not fond of the water. 'Don't you understand the symbolism of Ibsen s work.at all?' she asked mo m the same Vcalm way. 'With Ibsen everything is symbolistic. What Ibsen calls the sea is merely another way of expressing tho weird fascination ,of the nature of Eidsvoid which put its stamp on my whole being.' "Mrs Collett wanted certainty, however, and . with characteristic . naivete she immediately wrote to the-dramatist to find out. In reply to her letter, Ibsen admits that she had greatly influenced his conception of things, and that she had'many points'in common with Ellida.'f '