THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH
A monologue from the
play by Henrik
Ibsen
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen, vol. vi: The League
of Youth/Pillars of Society. Ed. William Archer. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. |
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CHAMBERLAIN: I understand you; but I can justify my
conduct before God and man! When the country was in distress,
after the separation from Denmark, my father made sacrifices
beyond his means. Thus part of our property came into the hands
of the Heire family. What was the result? The people who lived
upon the property suffered under Daniel Heire's incompetent management.
He cut down timber to the injury, I may even say to the ruin,
of the district. Was it not my obvious duty to put a stop to
it if I was able? And it happened that I was able; I had the
law on my side; I was well within my rights when I re-entered
upon my family property. You, too, have always had the law on
your side. But what about your sense of right, your conscience,
if you have such a thing? And how you have broken down all social
order! How you have impaired the respect that should attach to
wealth! People never think of asking nowadays how such and such
a fortune was made, or how long it has been in such and such
a family; they only ask: how much is so-and-so worth?--and they
esteem him accordingly. Now I suffer by all this; I find myself
regarded as a sort of associate of yours; people speak of us
in one breath, because we are the two largest proprietors in
the neighborhood. This state of things I cannot endure! I tell
you once and for all: that is why I am set against you.
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MONOLOGUES BY HENRIK IBSEN |
