Peer Gynt

The very mountains themselves stone him indeed, for he is killed by an avalanche.

Peer Gynt, 1867 Brand dies a saint, having caused more intense suffering by his saintliness than the most talented sinner could possibly have done with twice his opportunities.

Ibsen does not leave this to be inferred.

In another dramatic poem, he gives us a rapscallion named Peer Gynt, an idealist who avoids Brand's errors by setting up as his ideal the realization of himself through the utter satisfaction of his own will.

In this he would seem to be on the path to which Ibsen himself points, and indeed all who know the two plays will agree that whether or no it was better to be Peer Gynt than Brand, it was beyond all question better to be the mother or the sweetheart of Peer, scapegrace and liar as he was, than mother or wife to the saintly Brand.

Brand would force his ideal on all men and women.

Peer Gynt keeps his ideal for himself alone.

It is indeed implicit in the ideal itself that it should be unique, that he alone should have the force to realize it.

i was once at a debating club at which bernard shaw said that he was not a humanitarian at all but only an economist that he merely hated to see life wasted by carelessness or cruelty i felt inclined to get up and address to him the following lucid question if when you spare a herring you are only being oikonomical for what oikos are you being nomical but in an average debating club i thought this question might not be quite clear so i abandoned the idea but certainly it is not plain for whom bernard shaw is economizing if he rescues a rhinoceros from an early grave but the truth is that shaw only took this economic pose from his hatred of appearing sentimental if bernard shaw killed a dragon and rescued a princess of romance he would try to say i have saved a princess with exactly the same intonation as i have saved a shilling He tries to turn his own heroism into a sort of superhuman thrift.

He would thoroughly sympathize with that passage in his favorite dramatic author, in which the button-moulder tells Peer Gynt that there is a sort of cosmic housekeeping, that God himself is very economical, and that is why he is so well-to-do.

This combination of the widest kindness and consideration with a consistent ungraciousness of tone runs through all Shaw's ethical utterance, and is nowhere more evident than in his attitude towards animals.

He would waste himself to a white-haired shadow to save a shark in an aquarium from an inconvenience, or to add any little comforts to the life of a carrion crow.

But the Arabian dance is perhaps not so well-known as Anitra's dance, which comes just after it.

So here we are then, something relaxing after that stirring march, from Grieg's Peer Gynt music, The Arabian Dance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Woher schief hat er Sam umgewickelt.

Durch die Wüste kam er, Kam geschmückt er ein dir, Wie ein irdisch gebohrener, Wie ein irdisch gebohrener, Die Dame, die Dame steht lieb, Selbst hat's geschworen dir, ¶¶ ¶¶ Thank you.

The Arabian dance from Peer Gynt's music to the play, incidental music, I should say, to the play Peer Gynt by Grieg.

It reminds me that the problem with incidental music to plays is... is that we often don't hear the incidental music, certainly not in context, but we don't even hear all of the incidental music.

if when you spare a herring you are only being oikonomical for what oikos are you being nomical but in an average debating club i thought this question might not be quite clear so i abandoned the idea but certainly it is not plain for whom bernard shaw is economizing if he rescues a rhinoceros from an early grave but the truth is that shaw only took this economic pose from his hatred of appearing sentimental if bernard shaw killed a dragon and rescued a princess of romance he would try to say i have saved a princess with exactly the same intonation as i have saved a shilling He tries to turn his own heroism into a sort of superhuman thrift.

He would thoroughly sympathize with that passage in his favorite dramatic author, in which the button-moulder tells Peer Gynt that there is a sort of cosmic housekeeping, that God himself is very economical, and that is why he is so well-to-do.

This combination of the widest kindness and consideration with a consistent ungraciousness of tone runs through all Shaw's ethical utterance, and is nowhere more evident than in his attitude towards animals.

He would waste himself to a white-haired shadow to save a shark in an aquarium from an inconvenience, or to add any little comforts to the life of a carrion crow.

but certainly it is not plain for whom bernard shaw is economising if he rescues a rhinoceros from an early grave but the truth is that shaw only took this economic pose from his hatred of appearing sentimental if bernard shaw killed a dragon and rescued a princess of romance he would try to say i have saved a princess with exactly the same intonation as i have saved a shilling He tries to turn his own heroism into a sort of superhuman thrift.

He would thoroughly sympathize with that passage in his favorite dramatic author, in which the button-moulder tells Peer Gynt that there is a sort of cosmic housekeeping, that God himself is very economical, and that is why he is so well-to-do.

This combination of the widest kindness and consideration with a consistent ungraciousness of tone runs through all Shaw's ethical utterance, and is nowhere more evident than in his attitude towards animals.

He would waste himself to a white-haired shadow to save a shark in an aquarium from an inconvenience, or to add any little comforts to the life of a carrion crow.