Parsberg," the next play, deals with the passions engendered
by political controversy, and made much unpleasant stir in
Norwegian society because certain of the characters and situations
were unmistakeably taken from real life. After these plays
came "Laboremus" and "At Storhove," both concerned with
substantially the same theme, which is that of the malign
influence exerted by an evil-minded and reckless woman upon the
lives of others. From a different point of view, we may say that
the subject of these plays is the consecration of the home.
This has always been a favorite theme with Bjornson, and he has
no clearer title to our gratitude than that which he has earned
by his unfailing insistence upon the sanctity of family life,
its mutual confidences, and its common joys. Completing the
list, we have "Daglannet," another domestic drama of simple
structure, and "When the New Wine Blooms," a study of modernity
as exemplified in the young woman of to-day, of the estrangement
that too often creeps into married life, and of the stirrings
that prompt men of middle age to seek to renew the joys of youth.

During the years that have passed since the publication of
"Dust," Bjornson has produced four volumes of fiction,--his two
great novels, a third novel of less didactic mission, and a
second collection of short stories. The first of the novels,
"Flags Are Flying in City and Harbor," saw the light during
the year following the publication of "A Glove," and the
teaching of that play is again enforced with uncompromising
logic in the development of the story. The work has two other
main themes, and these are heredity and education. So much
didactic matter as this is a heavy burden for any novel to
carry, and a lesser man than Bjornson would have found the