No, but a rational one. It depicts men not as they are but such as, some day, they ought to be. Thus it sets up an ideal for our imitation.
HELEN
[Deeply convinced.] Ah, that is noble. [A brief pause.] But perhaps you can tell me something else. The papers talk so much about Zola and Ibsen. Are they great authors?
LOTH
In the sense of being artists they are not authors at all, Miss Krause. They are necessary evils. I have a genuine thirst for the beautiful and I demand of art a clear, refreshing draught.—I am not ill; and what Zola and Ibsen offer me is medicine.
HELEN
[Quite involuntarily.] Ah, then perhaps, they might help me.
LOTH
[Who has become gradually absorbed in his vision of the dewy orchard and who now yields to it wholly.] How very lovely it is here. Look, how the sun emerges from behind the mountain peak.—And you have so many apples in your garden—a rich harvest.