The Newly-Married Couple (1865) offers a considerable contrast to
the other two plays here presented. It belongs to the school of
Scribe and the "soliloquy," and the author avails himself of the
recognised dramatic conventions of the day. At the same time,
though the characters may be conventional in type, they are,
thanks to Bjornson's sense of humour, alive; and the theme of the
estrangement and reconciliation of the "newly-married couple" is
treated with delicacy and charm. It is true that it is almost
unbelievable that the hero could be so stupid as to allow the
"confidante" to accompany his young wife when he at last succeeds
in wresting her from her parents' jealous clutches; but, on the
other hand, that lady, with her anonymous novel that revealed the
truth to the young couple, was necessary to the plot as a "dea ex
machina." The play was, and is, immensely popular on the
Scandinavian stage, and still holds the boards on others. It has
been translated into Swedish, German, English, Dutch, Italian,
Polish and Finnish.

Leonarda (1879) marks just as striking an advance upon Bjornson's
early plays as the first of Ibsen's "social dramas" did upon his.
Unreal stage conventions have disappeared, the characterisation
is convincing, and the dialogue, if more prolix than Ibsen's (as
is throughout the case with Bjornson), is always interesting and
individual. The emotional theme of the play, the love of an older
woman for her adopted daughter's young lover, is treated with the
poetic touch that pervades all Bjornson's work; and the
controversial theme, that of religious tolerance, with a sane
restraint. It cannot be denied, however, that Bjornson's changed
and unorthodox attitude towards religious matters--an attitude
little expected except by those who knew him best--contributed a