3 of the same year, writing to the same correspondent, he again
alludes to his work as "a new long play, which must be completed as
soon as possible." It was, as a matter of fact, completed with very
little delay, for it appeared in Copenhagen on December 15, 1896.

The irresponsible gossip of the time made out that Bjornson
discerned in the play some personal allusions to himself; but this
Bjornson emphatically denied. I am not aware that any attempt has
been made to identify the original of the various characters. It need
scarcely be pointed out that in the sisters Gunhild and Ella we have
the pair of women, one strong and masterful, the other tender and
devoted, who run through so many of Ibsen's plays, from _The Feast at
Solhoug_ onwards--nay, even from _Catalina_. In my Introduction to
_The Lady from the Sea_ (p. xxii) it is pointed out that Ibsen had the
character of Foldal clearly in his mind when, in March 1880, he made
the first draft of that play. The character there appears as: "The
old married clerk. Has written a play in his youth which was only
once acted. Is for ever touching it up, and lives in the illusion
that it will be published and will make a great success. Takes no
steps, however, to bring this about. Nevertheless accounts himself
one of the 'literary' class. His wife and children believe blindly
in the play." By the time Foldal actually came to life, the faith
of his wife and children had sadly dwindled away.

There was scarcely a theatre in Scandinavia or Finland at which
_John Gabriel Borkman_ was not acted in the course of January 1897.
Helsingors led the way with performances both at the Swedish and the
Finnish Theatres on January 10. Christiania and Stockholm followed
on January 25, Copenhagen on January 31; and meanwhile the piece had
been presented at many provincial theatres as well. In Christiania,