Brief description
Love’s Comedy was written in 1862. Thus after The Vikings at Helgeland in 1857, five years were to pass before a new play by Ibsen appeared. Why this long unproductive phase, the longest in Ibsen’s career as a writer? One of the causes was undoubtedly all his activity and obligations in connection with his post as artistic director of Kristiania Norske Theater, a post he took up on 3 September 1857.
«To a writer all the theatre work is like a daily abortion», he wrote in a letter to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson some years later.
The idea of Love’s Comedy apparently originated in 1858. The themes of love and marriage were on Ibsen’s mind at that time, as on June 18th 1858 he married Suzannah Thoresen. Two central women characters in The Vikings at Helgeland and Love’s Comedy, Hjørdis in the first and Svanhild in the second, were said to have been modelled on Suzannah.
The first draft of the play is dated 1860 and is entitled «Svanhild». It consists of only one act, written in prose. The subject was put aside and not resumed until the beginning of 1862. The «Svanhild» draft was re-written in verse and developed into the first version of the three-act play Love’s Comedy. The following summer, however, Ibsen re-worked the play, especially in the case of the first act. We do not know exactly when he finished the play.
On 20 June 1862 Ibsen signed a contract with Jonas Lie, the new owner of the weekly literary magazine Illustreret Nyhedsblad, regarding the publication of Love’s Comedy. The play was advertised as the magazine’s «New Year Gift for 1863» and delivered free to all subscribers. On New Year’s Eve it arrived at the homes of those living in Christiania, while for those living in other places it was issued with the magazine’s number of 4 January 1863. In addition Jonas Lie had some separate copies of the play printed for sale in bookshops – this being part of his agreement with Ibsen. The exact number of copies is not known.
Love’s Comedy was poorly reviewed by most of the critics.
In a letter to Frederik Hegel, Ibsen’s Danish publisher, sent from Frascati in Italy on 22 August 1866, Ibsen suggested a new, revised edition of Love’s Comedy. Fired by the success of Brand, published in March the same year, he felt that such an edition would both be assured of interest and sell well. «The book can be regarded as a precursor of 'Brand', and it will attract readers in Denmark», he wrote in his letter to Hegel [read the letter in HISe].
It did not take long for Ibsen to revise the play. Specifically Norwegian words and expressions were removed for the sake of Danish readers, but no other changes were made. On 5 October 1866 he sent the revised copy of the play to Hegel. However the market had not yet had enough of Brand, and a fourth printing of the book was in process. For this reason the publication of Love’s Comedy was postponed until the spring of 1867.
From January 1863 Ibsen had been attached to Christiania Theater as «aesthetic consultant». Kristiania Norske Theater had gone bankrupt in the summer of 1862, and on 1 June Ibsen had been released from his post at the theatre.
Ibsen’s position at Christiania Theater did not, however, lead to Love’s Comedy being produced there to begin with. It is true that the first performance took place at this theatre, but not for another ten years. There was a small notice in the magazine Illustreret Nyhedsblad of 25 January 1863 to the effect that the play would shortly be produced at the theatre, but the main reason why nothing came of this was the fact that the book received poor reviews. Word had got about that the play was immoral, so the theatre did not venture to challenge public opinion.
When Love’s Comedy was at last produced at Christiania Theater, it was as a result of Ibsen’s own initiative. In a letter dated 24 October 1872 and posted in Dresden, he suggested to Hartvig Lassen, the artistic consultant of the theatre, that the play should be produced. Ibsen wrote:
The doubts I had at one time regarding a production of the play were long ago dispelled. Many signs have convinced me that the public have had their eyes opened to the fact that in its inmost idea this work rests on an unqualified moral basis. As regards its whole artistic structure I believe more than ever that this is faultless and cannot be surpassed in any of my other minor dramatic works. Altogether I reckon «Love’s Comedy» to be some of the best work I have done.
[read the letter in HISe].
It was owing to changes in the leadership of the theatre that the play was not produced for over a year. The Swedish man of the theatre, Ludvig Josephson, was appointed artistic director. The first performance of Love’s Comedy took place on 24 November 1873 at Christiania Theater and was a success. Josephson directed, and Sigvart and Laura Gundersen played the parts of Falk and Svanhild.
(From ibsen.net)
Read Love's Comedy (in Norwegian)
In the online version of the official Ibsen edition (HISe), you can read Love's Comdey in various formats. This content is currently only available in Norwegian. Follow the links below to read the play:
Introduction to the work (in Norwegian)
The online version of the official Ibsen edition (HISe) offers extensive information about Love's Comedy in Norwegian. Follow the links below to read about various aspects connected to the play.
Reviews
Here you can find reviews in full text and an overview of registered reviews in various languages.
- Reviews from Ibsen's life time in full text
- Reviews registered in the Ibsen bibliography (nb.no)
- Reviews registered in "Norsk litteraturkritikk" (UiO)
Translations
- The Multilingual Ibsen
- Translations in various languages
- Overview of translations from Ibsen's lifetime