There is one thing which the author throws into the balance in the woman’s favour, and that is that the woman is brave and fit for life, while the man is cowardly and unfitted for it.
The next to appear was The Lady from the Sea.
People were astonished and asked what it was.
“It is a piece in praise of true marriage,” replied Ibsen’s women admirers, and they wept.
What of this hysterical Fru Ellida who waits expectantly for some one else, who lives on Platonic terms with her husband and ends by sending her—very grown-up—stepdaughter into an educational establishment? What does Fru Ellida do? She indulges in bold fancies and exalted dreams, and when the subject of her dreams stands before her, and when the great happiness comes, which is always equally the great danger—she does not recognise him, she is afraid of him, and she takes refuge with her safe and trustworthy spouse, the patient Wangel.
Can’t we see Ibsen’s eyes twinkling behind his spectacles?
III
One of the first principles, on which Ibsen’s glorification of woman rests, is that woman is noble.
Nora is noble, but Rebecca is not.
Another of his principles is that woman is courageous and well fitted for life.