PART TWO

Mrs. Solness tending the plants, Solness looking at Ragnar’s drawings, as before. Kaya comes in.

KAYA (To Solness): Hello. I just wanted to say that I’m here.

SOLNESS: Good. Good.

(A silence.)

How’s Old Brovik doing today?

KAYA: Mm—not too well. He said to tell you he’s terribly sorry, but he has to spend the day in bed.

SOLNESS: Of course, of course. He must stay in bed. Well, you can get to work, if you like.

KAYA: I’ll see you later. (She goes out)

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes, the next one to die. So he’s on his way, too.

SOLNESS: He’s on his way, too? What’s that supposed to mean?

MRS. SOLNESS: Old Brovik—oh yes, he’s certainly going to die. Oh yes—we’ll be hearing of his death very soon now, I’d say.

SOLNESS: Aline—darling—do you think maybe you should go out for a while and take a little walk or something?

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh absolutely, yes, that is exactly the thing that I need to do! (She continues to tend to the plants as before)

SOLNESS: Is she—er—still asleep?

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh, you’re wondering about—Miss Wangel?

SOLNESS: Yes, I just suddenly wondered about her . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: Well, Miss Wangel has actually been up for hours.

SOLNESS: Oh! Really?

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes, when I went to look in on her, she was busy arranging all of her things.

SOLNESS: So—we’ve finally found a good use for one of the children’s rooms, haven’t we, Aline?

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes. At last.

SOLNESS: It’s so wonderful to not just leave all of them empty . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes, the nightmare of that—emptiness . . . You’re quite right, Halvard.

SOLNESS: Things—are going to be better, my darling. Believe me, things are going to start to get better. Everything’s going to be easier and nicer for both of us. Particularly for you—I—

MRS. SOLNESS: Things are going to start to get better?

SOLNESS: Believe me, Aline—

MRS. SOLNESS: You mean—because—that girl has come here?—

SOLNESS: No—no—I meant—you know—now that we’re going to move into our new house . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: Ah. Do you believe that, Halvard? Do you really believe that will make things better?

SOLNESS: I don’t doubt it for a second. I mean, you think that, too—don’t you?

MRS. SOLNESS: No, because when I think about the new house, I just—go blank—I feel absolutely nothing.

SOLNESS: You know, it’s very, very hard for me, Aline, to hear you say that. Because you’re the main reason—I mean, I built it for you!

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes—for me. Yes, you do much too much “for me.”

SOLNESS: I mean, I’m telling you that it’s terribly, terribly hurtful when you say things like that. It’s almost more than I can stand. It’s as if you’re stabbing me with a knife when you say things like that!

MRS. SOLNESS: Well—then I just won’t say them.

SOLNESS: And I still have to tell you: you’re going to see that I’m right—things are going to be nice, things are going to be very very nice for you, Aline, when we move into the new house!

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh my God—nice for me—

SOLNESS: Yes! Yes! They will be! Because there’s going to be so much there that’s going to remind you of your own—

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh, that’s going to remind me of my parents’ house? That’s going to remind me of my parents’ house that burned down in the fire?

SOLNESS: Aline—darling—

MRS. SOLNESS: Don’t you understand? You can work and build for the rest of your life, Halvard, but you’ll never be able to give me back a home that really feels right to me!

SOLNESS: Well then for God’s sake let’s not talk anymore about this subject.

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh well, we never do talk about it anyway. You know, you avoid the subject anyway.

SOLNESS: I avoid the subject? I avoid the subject? Why in the world would I do that?

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh, Halvard, I know you so well. You really would like to save me from everything that weighs down on me. And you want to pardon me, too, my dear Halvard. As much as you possibly can.

SOLNESS: Pardon? Pardon you? What do you mean, pardon you?

MRS. SOLNESS: Of course, me. Of course me. I know that.

SOLNESS: Oh my God—this again?

MRS. SOLNESS: Because with my parents’ house—yes, all right, whatever was going to happen was going to happen— when terrible things start to fall out of the sky, you can’t stop them . . .

SOLNESS: Of course, of course . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: But the horror—what happened after the fire— that’s the thing—that—that—that—

SOLNESS: Aline!—you can’t—don’t think about that . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: But yes, that’s the thing I have to think about, and I’m even going to get to speak about it now, for once, because the pain is unbearable, and it’s the one thing I will never have the right to forgive myself for.

SOLNESS: To forgive—?

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes—yes—because I had responsibilities. In both directions. To you—and to the children. And I should have forced myself to be strong. I shouldn’t have allowed my fear to completely overpower me. I shouldn’t have allowed my grief—my grief that my home was burned down in front of me—If only I could have done it, Halvard—

SOLNESS: Aline, you have to promise me that you will never start thinking like this again . . . You have to promise—

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh God, Jesus—promise! Promise! You can promise all you like—

SOLNESS: Oh God, it’s so hopeless. There’s never a ray of light. There’s never a ray of light. Never even one ray of light inside this home we live in . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: Halvard, please, this isn’t a home.

SOLNESS: Ah. All right. Fine. It isn’t. And I don’t know, you may well be right that things won’t be better in the new house—I just—

MRS. SOLNESS: No—no—it’s going to be just as empty . . . completely deserted . . .

SOLNESS: But then why in the world have we built it then? Can you explain that to me?

MRS. SOLNESS: I’m afraid you’ll have to answer that question yourself.

SOLNESS (Suspiciously): What? What does that mean? What are you trying to say to me, Aline?

MRS. SOLNESS: What am I trying to say?

SOLNESS: Yes, goddammit! I think you were speaking very strangely there, as if you were thinking certain little thoughts to yourself—

MRS. SOLNESS: I can assure you I wasn’t.

SOLNESS: Look, I know what I know! I happen to still have extremely good eyesight and extremely good hearing, and I think you should keep that very much in mind, Aline!—

MRS. SOLNESS: What are you talking about? Are you talking about something?

SOLNESS: Aline, let’s be serious—do you think you might just possibly be going around here looking to see if there’s a special hidden significance in the things I do and the things I say?

MRS. SOLNESS: The—what? Am I—what?

SOLNESS: Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Well, it’s totally understandable, Aline, it really is—how else could you behave when you’re forced to cope with a mentally sick man in the house?—aha ha ha—

MRS. SOLNESS: Mentally sick? Are you mentally sick?

SOLNESS: Well, let’s not say “sick”—let’s say a bit “disturbed,” a bit “unbalanced”—

MRS. SOLNESS: Halvard—for Christ in Heaven’s sake—

SOLNESS: But oddly, you’re mistaken. You and Doctor Herdal are both completely mistaken, because I’m not actually suffering from anything of the kind. As a matter of fact, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me.

MRS. SOLNESS: Well of course there isn’t! But what are you so upset about, then?

SOLNESS: Upset? Am I upset? Well, I think I might be upset because of the burden of all the guilt, Aline.

MRS. SOLNESS: But—but you have no reason to feel guilty towards anyone.

SOLNESS: Oh, well—towards you, Aline. You know, it’s pretty hard to measure, because it’s infinite . . . infinite . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: What’s behind all this, Halvard? You might as well tell me.

SOLNESS: But there isn’t anything! Goddammit! I haven’t done anything! I haven’t! And yet I feel I’m being crushed, I’m being ground down into the dirt, overpowered by guilt . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: Towards me?

SOLNESS: Yes, towards you, my dear.

MRS. SOLNESS: Then you really are sick. You are, Halvard.

SOLNESS: I suppose I must be. Or something of that nature.

(They see Hilde approaching them.)

Well! That brings in a little light, now, doesn’t it, Aline?

HILDE: Good morning, Master Builder.

SOLNESS: Did you sleep well?

HILDE: It was wonderful! As if I were being rocked in a cradle. I just lay there and stretched out like—a princess!

SOLNESS: Very appropriate . . . And did you dream a little bit too, maybe?

HILDE: Yes—but that was awful.

SOLNESS: Oh?

HILDE: I dreamt I was falling down an enormously high, steep cliff. Do you ever have that dream?

SOLNESS: Yes, sometimes I do . . .

HILDE: It’s horrible, but it’s an exciting feeling—the way you sort of drift down, farther and farther—

SOLNESS: —and there’s a sort of icy sensation, isn’t there?—cold—freezing—

HILDE: Yes!—And do you sometimes pull your legs up under you—as you fall? . . .

SOLNESS: Yes, right up to my chest . . .

HILDE: Yes! Yes!

MRS. SOLNESS: Well!—er—Halvard—I suppose I’d better go on to town now. (To Hilde) I’ll see if I can find a few clothes and things that you’re obviously going to need—

HILDE: Oh dear, lovely Mrs. Solness! That is so incredibly kind of you! You’re so kind!

MRS. SOLNESS: It’s one’s simple obligation to a guest, my dear. I’m not kind at all.

HILDE (Somewhat upset): Well, but I mean, I can perfectly well go to town myself and get what I need. Or maybe you don’t think that’s a good idea.

MRS. SOLNESS: To be absolutely frank, I think you might possibly attract attention there, somehow.

HILDE: Oh really? Attention? Hee hee—that would be fun!—wouldn’t it?—hee hee hee—

SOLNESS: Yes, but then the people there might start to think that you too were crazy . . .

HILDE: Crazy? Why? Are there an enormous number of crazy people here in your town?

SOLNESS (Pointing to his forehead): Well, there’s one at least.

HILDE: You—Master Builder?—

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh God—will you stop this, please?

SOLNESS (To Hilde): What? You mean—you haven’t noticed it yet?

HILDE: No—not at all—I absolutely—mm— (Thinks twice and laughs a little) Well, I mean, maybe, you know, in one particular way—aha ha ha—

SOLNESS: Oho! Do you hear that, Aline?

MRS. SOLNESS: What is that one particular way, then, Miss Wangel? Tell us.

HILDE: No, no, I’m not going to say.

SOLNESS: Oh come on, tell us!

HILDE: No thanks! Do you think I’m crazy? Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!

MRS. SOLNESS: When you and Miss Wangel are alone, Halvard, I’m sure she’ll tell you.

SOLNESS: Really? Do you think so?

MRS. SOLNESS: Oh yes, because you knew her so well at one time—when she was a child—you told me . . .

(Mrs. Solness goes out. A pause.)

HILDE: So. Is your wife just incapable of liking me at all?

SOLNESS: I’m sorry—I—

HILDE: I mean—

SOLNESS: It’s— In these last few years—Aline’s become very reclusive—ill at ease around people—

HILDE: Yes? . . .

SOLNESS: If you could only get to know her a little . . . You see, she’s actually a kind, good, wonderful person . . .

HILDE: Well, if she’s really so kind, why did she talk that way about “obligation”?

SOLNESS: “Obligation”?

HILDE: Yes—she said she was going to go out and buy some things for me—out of obligation. Christ, I hate that word—it’s so revolting, so ugly—

SOLNESS: “Obligation”?—

HILDE: It sounds like someone being strangled to death. —“Obligation!” “Obligation!” Don’t you hear it? Someone being strangled . . .

SOLNESS: Well—I’ve—

HILDE: And if she’s really so kind—as you say she is—why would she use a word like that?

SOLNESS: Well, but what sort of words do you think she should have used?

HILDE: She might have said that she wanted to buy me some things because she liked me very much and she wanted to do it. That’s what she could have said. Something warm, from her heart. Don’t you understand what I’m talking about?

SOLNESS: That’s what you hoped that Aline would say?

HILDE: Yes, it is.

(She walks around the room, picks up Ragnar’s portfolio.)

Are you the one who’s done all these drawings?

SOLNESS: No—they were done by a young man whom I have here assisting me.

HILDE: Oh—someone you’ve trained?

SOLNESS: Yes . . .

HILDE (Looking carefully at the drawings): An advanced practitioner . . . (She keeps looking)

SOLNESS: Do you think you can tell that from looking at those drawings?

HILDE: No—I meant that if he’s studied with you, then he must be a very—

SOLNESS: Oh no, believe me, there are a lot of people around here who have studied with me, and they haven’t advanced very far at all!—aha ha ha!

HILDE: But why do you take on all these students? I don’t understand.

SOLNESS: Well, it’s—

HILDE: I think it’s absurd. You shouldn’t teach students the things you know, because you’re the only one who should be allowed to build! You should get all the jobs yourself.

SOLNESS: Hilde—!

HILDE: What?

SOLNESS: Ha ha ha ha! Hilde! That’s outrageous! Ha ha ha—

(Her attention is caught by something she sees through a window. She studies it.)

HILDE: Over there . . . (He goes to her)

SOLNESS: Where? By the stone quarry?

HILDE: Yes. Is that your new house?

SOLNESS: Yes.

HILDE: It’s so big.

SOLNESS: Yes . . .

HILDE: So does that one have children’s rooms also?

SOLNESS: Yes, it does.

HILDE: Hm. Children’s rooms. But no children . . .

SOLNESS: Yes.

HILDE (With a half smile): Well, then wasn’t I possibly just a little bit right?

SOLNESS: What do you mean?

HILDE: I mean, that you really are—just a little bit—crazy?

SOLNESS: Was that what you had in mind when you said that?

HILDE: Yes—I was thinking about all your empty children’s rooms . . .

(A pause.)

SOLNESS: Hilde, Aline and I did have—children . . .

HILDE: Oh . . .

SOLNESS: Two little boys—twins . . . It was ten or eleven years ago . . .

HILDE: And they’re both?—mm—

SOLNESS: We only had them for—a little less than three weeks. And then, they died . . . Oh Hilde, it’s so good for me—so unbelievably good for me that you came here. It’s such a wonderful feeling to have someone to talk with . . .

HILDE: So—you mean—you can’t talk with her?

SOLNESS: No. Not in the way I want to talk—and need to talk. We simply can’t talk about this. Or about—most things, really . . .

HILDE: So—was that what you meant yesterday when you said that you needed me? Was that the only thing? Or—

SOLNESS: Hilde—please—I don’t know. I don’t know anymore—I’m not sure—I— (Breaking off) Just sit with me, Hilde. Please. Right here . . . Would you like to—hear about it?

HILDE: Yes. Please. Yes.

SOLNESS: I’ll tell you everything, then.

(They look out toward the new house.)

You see, over there, on the high ground—where you can see the new house—

HILDE: Yes?—

SOLNESS: That was where Aline and I lived when we were first married. Because at that time there was an old house there which had belonged to her mother. And that house had been given to us, along with this whole enormous garden around it.

HILDE: And did that house also have—a tower?

SOLNESS: Oh no—nothing like that. In fact, from the outside that house was honestly just a huge, dark, depressing, ugly box. Inside, though, it was actually quite comfortable and cozy. And that was where we lived when the two little boys were born. And do you know?—when they came into the world, they were so healthy and strong—they were growing every day—you could actually see it!—

HILDE: Yes, they grow so fast in the very first days—

SOLNESS: —and the sight of Aline, lying in bed with the two little babies—well, that was the most beautiful sight you could ever see in your life. But then—one night—we had a fire—

HILDE: A fire? What happened?

SOLNESS: Well, that was a terrible night—alarms, chaos—everyone scrambling and pushing, outside in the dark in the freezing cold, Aline and the boys carried out in their beds—well, Aline went into a state of sheer terror, and as a result she developed a fever. And that, as it turned out, affected her milk. She insisted that she had to nurse the little babies herself, no matter how ill she was, she felt it was her obligation. And so—both boys got sick—and both died.

HILDE: They couldn’t survive drinking the milk . . .

SOLNESS: No—that’s right.

HILDE: That must have been so hard for you—so painful—

SOLNESS: Yes. And it was ten times worse for Aline . . . Think about it—can you believe that things like that are allowed to happen in the world? From the day I lost my boys, I hated building churches. And so now I don’t build churches anymore . . .

HILDE: Only homes. Where people can live . . .

SOLNESS: Yes—homes. For people.

HILDE: Homes with high towers and spires, though!

SOLNESS: Yes, I must admit I do prefer them that way . . . Well, anyway, you see, that fire lifted me up to a great height as a Master Builder. Because I parceled out almost that whole piece of land into lots for houses, and so then of course I was the one who could build the houses. And after that, everything started going in my direction.

HILDE: You must be a very happy man, the way it’s all gone for you.

SOLNESS: Ah—so now you’re saying that, too, like everybody else.

HILDE: Well—you must be. I think you must be. If you could only manage to stop thinking all the time about the two little children—

SOLNESS: Well—Hilde—

HILDE: I mean, do they still—stand in the way—of everything—all the time? After all these years?

SOLNESS: Listen to me—Hilde . . . when I told you just now about the fire—

HILDE: Yes?

SOLNESS: Well—when I told you what happened, wasn’t there a certain rather obvious point that sort of sprang out at you? I mean that because of the fire I fell into a situation in which I was able to build these homes for people: comfortable, bright, cozy homes, in which a mother, a father, and a whole group of children could live—in which they could live with the secure feeling, with the wonderful feeling, that it’s a happy destiny simply to be alive, to be alive on this earth!—and even to have the feeling that the very best thing in life is to be together, to belong to one another, through all of life’s many events . . .

HILDE: Well, doesn’t that make you awfully happy?—that you can create such lovely homes for these people?

SOLNESS: But Hilde—don’t you see that in order to get this opportunity to build homes for other people, I had to give up—forever—any hope at all of—of having a home myself? I mean, a home with a father and a mother and—children?

HILDE: You mean—you mean, because . . .

SOLNESS: That’s the price I had to pay for what I received, for the wonderful good luck that people love to talk about. The price wasn’t any cheaper than that, Hilde! And that was just the down payment!

HILDE: But couldn’t—something good—still—happen? . . .

SOLNESS: No, no. No—that was one of the consequences of Aline’s illness—the illness that was caused by the fire!

HILDE (After a moment, looking deep into his eyes): And yet you’re building a house with—rooms—for children . . .

SOLNESS: Hilde. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the thing which is impossible can somehow still tempt you, can somehow still cry out to you—?

HILDE: Yes! Yes! So you know about that too, do you?

SOLNESS: Yes, Hilde. I do.

HILDE: You sound like there might be a weird half-human creature running around somewhere inside you . . .

SOLNESS: Yes, maybe. (Grimly) But at any rate, there’s a certain balancing that always occurs. In other words, everything I’ve done, everything I’ve achieved—it all has to be balanced out! And even after the down payment, a price must still be paid. And the currency in which the payment is demanded is not money—it’s human happiness. And my good fortune can’t be paid for with my own happiness alone—no, it also has to be paid for with the happiness of other people. And the price must be paid! And every single day of my life I have to get up and watch that price being paid, for my benefit, all day long. Paid and paid and paid and paid.

HILDE: So obviously you’re talking about—your wife . . .

SOLNESS: Yes. Because you see, Aline had a vocation, just as I had. But her vocation had to be blocked, destroyed, it had to be ground down into a million pieces, so that mine could be advanced, so that I could obtain some sort of fabulous success. Because you have to understand this, Hilde—Aline also had a great talent. She had a talent for building and shaping the souls of young children. She would have enabled her children to grow up with a kind of equanimity and a kind of grace . . . She was born to be a shaper of souls, someone who would guide souls so that they could rise up out of childhood into noble and beautiful forms. And all of that talent just lies there now like a pile of rubble after an enormous explosion—it’s completely useless.

HILDE: Yes, but—but even if all that is true, I—

SOLNESS: It is true. It is true. I know Aline. I know—

HILDE: Yes, but the point is, it wasn’t your fault! None of it was your fault!

SOLNESS: Oh no? Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Because I think that it probably was my fault.

HILDE: What? The fire?

SOLNESS: Yes. All of it. Everything that happened . . . But you know—I mean—well—maybe it wasn’t my fault at all . . .

HILDE: Oh Master Builder—when you talk like that—you seem as if you really are mentally sick . . .

SOLNESS: Yes—well—

(Ragnar comes in, cautiously.)

RAGNAR: Oh—excuse me—

SOLNESS: No, no, please stay, so we can settle this finally.

RAGNAR: Yes. That would be great.

SOLNESS: Things aren’t going any better for your father, I hear.

RAGNAR: No, he’s deteriorating—very fast . . . That’s why I’ve come here—to ask you—please—could you possibly write a few words on one of my drawings?—just anything that he could read before he—

SOLNESS: Ragnar—please—could you please stop talking to me about those drawings?

RAGNAR: Why? Have you looked at them?

SOLNESS: Yes—of course.

RAGNAR: So—perhaps you didn’t find them—very—good? Or perhaps you don’t think that I am—

SOLNESS: Ragnar, please just stay here and keep on working with me! You’ll have everything you could possibly want. You can get married to Kaya. You’ll live without any anxieties—you might even be happy! You just have to stop thinking about becoming a builder yourself!

RAGNAR: All right, fine. So that’s what I’m going to be able to go home and tell Father. Fine. Good. Because I promised to tell him exactly what you said. And that’s what you’d like me to tell him before he dies—right?

SOLNESS: Well, tell him—tell him whatever you like, for Christ’s sake! The best thing, really, would be to tell him nothing! (Suddenly exclaiming) I can’t act any differently from the way I act, Ragnar!

RAGNAR: May I take the drawings away with me, then?

SOLNESS: Yes—please—just—

HILDE: No—leave them.

SOLNESS: The—leave them for what?

HILDE: Well, because I want to look at them, too.

SOLNESS: But you already have. You— (To Ragnar) Fine—leave them . . . Ragnar! You mustn’t ask me for something that I can’t give you! Please, Ragnar, you mustn’t do that!

RAGNAR: Hm—of course. Of course. Excuse me. (He goes out)

HILDE: That was—incredibly—cruel—I—

SOLNESS: Oh, you think so? Yes, that’s what he was thinking.

HILDE: You were brutal with him—it was sickening—I—

SOLNESS: But you don’t understand my situation!

HILDE: I don’t care what your situation is—you shouldn’t behave like that!

SOLNESS: You said I ought to be the only person allowed to build . . .

HILDE: Yes, I said it. But you shouldn’t say it!

SOLNESS: For God’s sake, Hilde, if I can’t have a single moment of inner peace in my life, at least allow me to keep my position in the world!

HILDE: But why can’t you have a single moment of inner peace?

SOLNESS: Why? Oh my God, Hilde, I . . .

HILDE: What? Tell me!

SOLNESS: All right. I’ll tell you . . . But you see, it all begins with something so silly that it almost seems funny. I mean, the whole thing is all about a crack in a chimney pipe . . .

HILDE: Well—

SOLNESS: Yes, you see, in the old house where we used to live, the one that burned down—well, that house had an attic—and I used to go up there very frequently . . .

HILDE (Impatiently): Yes—all right . . .

SOLNESS: Well, one day, long before the fire, I noticed a crack in the chimney pipe there. And every time I went up to the attic, I’d check to see if the crack was still there.

HILDE: And it always was . . .

SOLNESS: Well, yes—because no one but me knew about it.

HILDE: And you never mentioned it to anyone?

SOLNESS: No, I didn’t.

HILDE: But a cracked chimney pipe is incredibly dangerous! Didn’t it occur to you to get it fixed?

SOLNESS: Yes, of course—but each time I started to do something about it, something stopped me, as if a hand had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was holding on to me. And I’d just say to myself, Well, I’ll do it tomorrow. And so the crack was never mended.

HILDE: You just ignored it? How could you do that?

SOLNESS: Because I kept on wondering about that crack in the pipe: could I just possibly fly through that crack and fly up to a very great height—as a Master Builder?

HILDE: That must have been an exciting thought.

SOLNESS: I kept imagining this little story—and it seemed so natural, so simple and easy . . . Well, it would all take place, naturally, in wintertime. Just a little before lunch. And Aline and I would be out, and I’d be driving her around somewhere. And those who stayed behind would have lit big roaring fires in all of the stoves—

HILDE: Oh yes, because it would have been a terribly cold day . . .

SOLNESS: Yes, yes, bitterly cold—and of course the servants would have wanted the house to be nice and warm for when Aline would come in—

HILDE: Yes, because they would know that Aline simply always felt cold—

SOLNESS: Yes, she always did. And so it would happen—that as we would be riding towards home—we’d see smoke rising . . .

HILDE: You’d just see smoke?

SOLNESS: Yes, at first. But then, when we would reach the garden gate, we’d be able to see the whole house, like a big wooden box, in a ring of flame, a surging, pulsing ring of flame . . . That was my fantasy . . .

HILDE: Yes, I see. But seriously, tell me—are you absolutely certain that the fire was caused by that little crack in the chimney pipe?

SOLNESS: No, no, on the contrary. I know for a fact that the crack in the chimney pipe had absolutely nothing to do with it.

HILDE: What?—

SOLNESS: No, it was clearly determined that the fire broke out in a clothes closet in a completely different part of the house.

HILDE: Well then why are you talking to me about—?

SOLNESS: Hilde, please—please listen to me. I will explain this! You see, I have to ask you— Would you agree with me, possibly, that there are certain people in the world, certain particular “selected” individuals, who have received a certain—favor and—and been granted a certain power, so that they can desire something so passionately that the thing they wish for simply has to take place? Would you agree with me that there are such people?

HILDE: Well, if there are, we’ll learn one day whether I am one of them.

SOLNESS: But Hilde, an individual can’t accomplish things like that entirely on his own. No—there are forces in the universe that help people, that serve people, and in order for one’s desires to be realized, those forces have to be there. But you see, they don’t just suddenly appear, Hilde! One has to call for them, you see, with a sort of intense inner determination . . . And I did that. I called for them. I called, they came, and they did exactly what I wanted them to do. And that’s why I say that it was my fault that the boys died and that Aline was never able to be what she should have been . . . You know, everyone says that I must be a very happy man, because I’ve been so terribly fortunate. But do you know what all that good fortune actually feels like? It feels like my skin has been peeled off, and there’s a huge wound right about here in my chest, and it’s still bleeding. And all the forces in the universe that help people and serve them—they’re all flying out into the world on my behalf, and they’re ripping the skin off more and more people, and they’re bringing the skin back to me and trying to graft it on to my wound, but the graft won’t take, and the wound won’t heal. It won’t heal! It will never heal . . .

HILDE (Observes him carefully): You are sick, Master Builder. Maybe—almost—terribly sick.

SOLNESS: Say “crazy,” Hilde, because that’s what you mean.

HILDE: No—no—that’s not right! Because look, you can reason, you can think, you can understand things—

SOLNESS: Well why am I sick then? Tell me. Tell me!

HILDE: I wonder if perhaps you were simply born with an oversensitive—an oversensitive—mm—conscience—yes . . .

SOLNESS: What in the world does that mean?

HILDE: I mean that your conscience is very delicate, Master Builder. It’s much too weak! It’s too easily crushed by heavy things . . .

SOLNESS: Is that right? Well then what sort of a conscience should I have?

HILDE: I’d like you to have a more robust conscience, Master Builder, which could lift up those heavy things and bear their weight . . .

SOLNESS: Aha—I see. And do you, perhaps, have a conscience like that?

HILDE: Mm—yes—I probably do . . .

SOLNESS: But has it really been put to the test? . . .

HILDE: Well, it was not an easy thing to leave my father, whom I love very dearly . . .

SOLNESS: Well, Hilde, to leave your father for a month or two is not—

HILDE: No—no—I won’t ever go back.

SOLNESS: Oh! Really . . .

HILDE: You see, some power inside me drove me here—drove me, forced me . . . And I was pulled here too—pulled—drawn . . .

SOLNESS: Yes! That’s right! That’s it, Hilde! You see? You see? You’re just like me. One of those weird half-human mountain creatures is living somewhere inside of you, too. Because they’re the ones who call out—to the forces outside us . . . And when those forces come to you and hold on to you, you don’t have any choice anymore—you have to surrender! . . . Oh, Hilde, Hilde, all around us—everywhere—there are spirits—and there really are spirits of light, and there really are spirits of darkness . . . If only—if only one could be sure whether it was a spirit of light or a spirit of darkness which was reaching out for us and holding on to us—then life could be better, Hilde . . .

HILDE: Yes, and life could also be better if one could have a truly healthy, truly robust conscience, so that one dared to do the things one really wanted to do!

(A long silence. He moves away from her.)

SOLNESS: Mm—I suppose most people are probably just as weak and pitiful as I am in that regard.

HILDE: Yes, they probably are . . .

SOLNESS: You know, in all the old books of the Norse sagas—have you done any reading in those old books, Hilde?—

HILDE: Oh yes, of course . . .

SOLNESS: Well, do you remember?—in all those books they always talked about the Vikings, and they described how the Vikings went to foreign countries and set fire to the countryside and robbed and stole and beat men to death—

HILDE: —and seized the women!—

SOLNESS: —took them away!—

HILDE: —carried them off on their ships—

SOLNESS: —and made love to them passionately night after night . . .

HILDE (Stares in front of her with a half-veiled look): It must have been great.

SOLNESS: To seize women?—

HILDE: No—to be seized—

SOLNESS: Well, the reason I brought up the subject of the Vikings is that they really had those consciences that were strong and robust! I mean, when they got home from a day of plundering, they could just sit down cheerfully and eat a good meal! They ate, they drank—they were like happy little children after a day of playing! And you know those women whom they’d carried off—do you remember this?—in so many of those stories those women became so attached to those men that they refused to be parted from them! Does that make any sort of sense to you, Hilde?

HILDE: It makes complete sense to me.

SOLNESS: So—you can imagine making that sort of a choice yourself, then?

HILDE: Well, why wouldn’t I?

SOLNESS: You could just make the choice to move in and live with someone who’d violated you?

HILDE: If I’d come to love him—yes.

SOLNESS: Oh, Hilde. Hilde. You’re like a wild bird of the forest, Hilde.

HILDE: No, I’m not—because I don’t fly off and hide in the shrubbery.

SOLNESS: Yes—perhaps you’re more like a bird of prey.

HILDE: Yes—perhaps something more like—that sort of bird. And why shouldn’t I be? Why shouldn’t I go off in search of my prey, why shouldn’t I seize the prize I want so desperately? If I’m able to take it in my claws and subdue it to my will—why shouldn’t I do that?

SOLNESS: Hilde—do you know what I feel you really are?

HILDE: A very strange little bird, I suppose you’re going to say.

SOLNESS: No. You’re like—a day which is dawning, Hilde. When I look at you—it’s as if I were looking—at the sun—rising . . .

(He comes close to her. She goes to Ragnar’s portfolio and brings it to him.)

HILDE: Here.

SOLNESS: What are you doing?

HILDE: Take them.

SOLNESS: Why? What do you—?

HILDE: Take them.

SOLNESS: But—but—I’ve been looking at these drawings all day long!

HILDE: Yes, I know, but now you’re going to write on them for him.

SOLNESS: Write on them? Not in a million years, Hilde!

HILDE: Not when that old man is lying in bed face to face with death? My God—can’t you just offer one moment of happiness to that old man and his son before they’re separated for good? I mean, even if you don’t really like the drawings, surely you can bring yourself to lie a little . . .

SOLNESS: Oh, I see. Now you’re asking me to lie. I see.

HILDE: And I mean, if you do write something nice on the young man’s drawings, then that might actually help him to get the job of building the house.

SOLNESS: It might help him to get the job!?! Hilde, don’t you understand this? That’s the only reason he wants me to write on the drawings! To get the job! To get the job!

HILDE: All right, that’s enough! Stop that! Stop it!

(Silence.)

SOLNESS: You want me to lie? Well, maybe for his old father’s sake I could do something like that. Because at one point in the past, when I was rising up, Hilde, I pulled that old man down. I pulled him down and destroyed him.

HILDE: Really. Him, too.

SOLNESS: And now Ragnar would like to rise up . . .

HILDE: Yes, but if the poor fellow has no talent . . .

SOLNESS: If Ragnar rises up, I’m going to go down. Oh yes, he’ll destroy me, just the way I destroyed his father.

HILDE: Destroy you? What—you mean, he actually does have talent?

SOLNESS (After a moment’s pause): Oh yes, there’s no question about that. Enormous talent. Enormous talent. And I’m afraid that the forces that help people and serve them are not going to be obeying my wishes anymore.

HILDE: Then you’ll have to set out on your own, Master Builder. That’s all you can do.

SOLNESS: But, without help? That’s hopeless, Hilde. This is it, you see—this is the moment it all turns around.

HILDE: No—don’t say that! Are you trying to take my life away from me? Or—God!—the thing—the thing that means more to me than life itself?

SOLNESS: What is that?

HILDE: To see you standing with a wreath in your hand, high, high up on an enormous tower!

(Silence.)

(Once more calm) So. Write. Write really nice things for this awful Ragnar . . .

(Silence, as Solness writes several lines.)

SOLNESS (Still writing): So, tell me, Hilde—have you ever—been in love?

HILDE: Say that again?

SOLNESS: I mean, in the course of your life, have you never— loved anyone?

(Pause.)

HILDE: Anyone else, you mean?

(Long silence.)

SOLNESS: Anyone—else . . .

(Silence.)

HILDE: Of course I’ve liked other men slightly, for a little while, you know, particularly when I was angry at you because you didn’t come to find me—ha ha ha—I’m sure you understand . . .

(Silence. Mrs. Solness comes in, with several packages.)

MRS. SOLNESS: I’ve brought these little things back for you myself, Miss Wangel. And then all the large things will be delivered a little bit later.

HILDE: Oh, that’s so nice of you!

MRS. SOLNESS: The least I could do.

SOLNESS (Reads through what he’s written): Aline?

MRS. SOLNESS: Yes?

SOLNESS: Did you happen to notice whether—mm—the bookkeeper was out there?

MRS. SOLNESS: Of course she was out there.

SOLNESS: Ah.

MRS. SOLNESS: She was bent over her documents—her usual pose when I’m in the vicinity.

SOLNESS: Well, I’m going to give her—mm—this—and tell her that the—

HILDE (Taking the portfolio from him): No—let me have the pleasure of doing that! Er—what was her name?

SOLNESS: Her name is—Miss Fosli.

HILDE: Argh, that’s horribly cold. I mean her first name.

SOLNESS: It’s—er—Kaya.

HILDE (Calls toward the office): Kaya! Please come in right away! The Master Builder wants to speak with you.

(Kaya comes in.)

KAYA: Yes?

HILDE (Hands Kaya the portfolio): Well, Kaya, you can take these now. The Master Builder has written various things on them.

KAYA: Oh—so he’s finally—

SOLNESS: Bring them to Old Brovik as quickly as you can.

KAYA: Yes, I’ll—

SOLNESS: Good. So Ragnar will have his chance to build something . . .

KAYA: Would it—would it be all right for him to come over, then, and—and thank you right away?

SOLNESS: No! I’m sorry. I don’t want any thanks. Please send him my greetings and tell him that specifically.

KAYA: Yes—all right . . .

SOLNESS: And you can also tell him that I—I won’t be needing him here from now on. And I won’t be needing you either.

KAYA (Soft, trembling): Won’t be needing me? . . .

SOLNESS: Well, you’re going to have a great many concerns of your own to be thinking about now. You know, thinking about and taking care of. So you should really go on home right now—take the drawings. The sooner the better.

(Pause. She still hasn’t left.)

Don’t you think you should go?

KAYA (Still in the same state): Right—all right. —Mrs. Solness— (She goes out)

MRS. SOLNESS: God, what sneaky eyes that girl has.

SOLNESS: Oh no, no, that’s quite unfair . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: Are you really letting them go, then?

SOLNESS: Oh yes, I am. But I don’t want you to concern yourself with any of that, Aline, because I just want you to be thinking about the fact that we’re going to be moving into our new house. And I want to make that move as soon as possible. We are going to raise the wreath tonight. (Turns to Hilde) We’ll raise it up to the top of the tower! Now what do you think about that, Miss Hilde?

HILDE: It will be unbelievably beautiful to see you high up in the sky again.

SOLNESS: Me?

MRS. SOLNESS: My God in Heaven, Miss Wangel, don’t even think about something like that. My husband?—he suffers from the most terrible dizziness—he—

HILDE: Your husband suffers from dizziness? Oh no—he doesn’t.

MRS. SOLNESS: But—he does—he does—

HILDE: But I saw him myself at the top of an incredibly tall church tower!

MRS. SOLNESS: Well, I’ve heard people telling that story, but—it’s absolutely impossible.

SOLNESS: Yes! Impossible! Absolutely impossible! And yet—well—I actually was up there!

MRS. SOLNESS: But how can you say that? Really, Halvard. You can’t even go out on our balcony here! One flight up! That’s the way you’ve always been!

SOLNESS: Well, you might perhaps have the opportunity to see a different side of me tonight . . .

MRS. SOLNESS: No! No! God save me from that! I won’t see that! Because I’m going to write a note to the doctor right this minute, and he will definitely persuade you not to do that!

SOLNESS: Aline, please—

MRS. SOLNESS: Because, you see, you really are sick, Halvard. The way you’re talking—I mean, that’s the only explanation! My God, it’s so awful—dear God— (She goes out)

HILDE: So. Is that true?

SOLNESS: What?—that I don’t like high places? that I get dizzy? Yes. (She is facing forward, looking out) What are you looking at?

HILDE (Pointing out): I’m looking at that very small room at the top of the tower.

SOLNESS: Yes, that could be your room, couldn’t it, Hilde? You could live up there like a little princess.

HILDE: Well, that’s what you promised me.

SOLNESS: Yes? Did I?

(Hilde leaves. The lights begin to change. Solness speaks to the audience. As he speaks, Mrs. Solness comes in and takes a seat facing out toward the audience.)

And then a few hours pass, and it’s late in the afternoon, and Aline sits by herself on the second-floor veranda, looking out at the garden and the new house.

(She sits for a while, and then Hilde comes in holding flowers. She seems to be about to speak to Mrs. Solness but turns to the audience instead.)

HILDE: Let’s take another fifteen minutes.

(Intermission.)