Happy Birthday to Henrik Ibsen!

Inna Solovieva
IBSEN'S LESSON

Special issue. NORWAY–RUSSIA: ON THE CROSSROADS OF CULTURES

FOR A RUSSIAN HISTORIAN IT WOULD BE NATURAL TO JUXTAPOSE THE YEARS OF IBSEN'S BIRTH AND DEATH (1828-1906) WITH THOSE OF LEO TOLSTOY, WHO WAS ALSO BORN IN 1828, AND WHOSE LIFE, STRENUOUS AND ACTIVE, ALSO CONTINUED INTO THE FIRST DECADE OF THE NEW CENTURY. IN THE DAILY OPERATIONS OF RUSSIAN CULTURE THESE FORMIDABLE PERSONALITIES, CONSTITUTIONALLY INCLINED TO CLAIM POWER OVER HUMAN MINDS, LOOKED LIKE ADVERSARIES. TOLSTOY LAMPOONED THE STORYLINE OF "THE MASTER BUILDER", NEGLECTING TO MENTION THE TITLE OF THE PLAY AND ITS AUTHOR'S NAME (IN "ON SHAKESPEARE AND HIS DRAMAS", A PERSUASIVE TRACT WITH ALL THE TRAPPINGS OF AN ACADEMIC WORK AND A HINT OF MISCHIEF - ALMOST A LAMPOON OF ALL PROFESSORS).