cultural resources in henrik ibsen's early environment - Ibsen.net

VIII. Indqvarteringen (“The Billetting”), by Henrik Hertz.
Henrik Hertz was one of the best writers in the stable of playwrights at the Royal Theatre
in Copenhagen. Indqvarteringen deals with a real social problem, the invasion of
families caused by the billetting of troops in private homes during maneuvers, although it
presents the problem in a comical, even farcical style. The play was performed not only
in Skien in 1843, but also in Sørlandet a few years later, and it entered the repertoire of
the Bergen theatre in the 1852-53 season. Ibsen probably directed it then himself, so he
must have known it well.
Ibsen profited by his contact with Hertz's plays, which include Kong Renes Datter
and Svend Dyrings Hus. He was accused of imitating the latter play in composing Gildet
paa Solhoug, a charge against which he defended himself in the preface to the second
edition of that play. His defense was justified as far as the details of the two texts are
concerned. However, the fact that he worked with Hertz's plays in the theatre as well as
in the study during his apprenticeship is significant, and he must have learned from
Hertz's theatrical expertise.
In Indqvarteringen Hertz was able to create characters who are viewed satirically,
but are still three-dimensional, that is, they have complexity and are not merely farcical
puppets. It is possible that Hertz's method of characterization left its mark on some of
Ibsen's best plays. The characters of Brandt and Louise in particular are similar to some
of Ibsen's characters. Hjalmar Ekdal may owe something to Brandt, and Hedda Gabler
may be a cousin of Louise. The marriage of a clever, spirited woman and a prosaic or
foolish husband is also part of Ibsen's stock-in-trade. Of course, both Hertz and Ibsen
were working in a comic tradition that had been influenced by the practice of the
eighteenth century dramatist Ludvig Holberg.
This translation is based on the text in Dramatiske Værker af Henrik Hertz. Vol.
1. Kjøbenhavn: C. A. Reitzels Bo og Arvinger, 1854, 253-347.
INDQVARTERINGEN
("THE BILLETTING")
by Henrik Hertz.
CHARACTERS.
BRANDT, a factory manager.
LOUISE, his wife.
HANNE, her sister.
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