| Synopsis:
Act I
Peer Gynt is the son of the once highly regarded Jon Gynt. Jon Gynt spent all his father’s money living it up until everything was gone, forcing Jon to become a wandering salesman, leaving his wife and son in debt on the farm. Åse, the mother, wished to raise her son to restore the lost fortune of his father, but it soon becomes obvious that Peer is useless for practical tasks, somewhat of a poet and a braggart, not unlike the Norwegian youngest son from the fairy tales The Ash Lad, with whom he shares some characteristics.
As the play opens, Peer gives an account of a reindeer hunt that went awry, a famous theatrical scene known as the buckride. His mother scorns him for his vivid imagination and taunts him because he spoiled his chances with Ingrid, the daughter of the richest farmer. In reply, Peer goes straight to Ingrid’s wedding, which is scheduled the following day, hoping to get a chance with the bride anyway. His mother hastens after him to keep him from making an utter fool of himself.
At the wedding, Peer is taunted and laughed at by the other guests, especially the local blacksmith, Aslak, who holds a grudge after a brawl earlier on. At this wedding, Peer meets a family of newcomers from another valley, Haugean followers of Hans Nielsen Hauge. He instantly notices the daughter, Solveig, and asks her for a dance. She refuses because of her father, and even more when she learns who Peer is, whose reputation has preceded him. When she will have nothing to do with him, Peer starts drinking. When he hears that Ingrid has locked herself up, he runs away with her and spends a night with her in the mountains.
Act II
Peer is banished for his deed, and as he wanders the mountains, his mother, Solveig and her father search for him. While wandering about, Peer meets three amorous milkmaids who are waiting to be courted by trolls (a folklore motif from Gudbrandsdalen). He gets very drunk with them and spends the next day alone with a hangover. He hits his head against a rock and passes out, and the rest of the second act takes place in Peer’s dream. He comes across a woman clad in green who turns out to be the daughter of the troll king of the mountain. Together they ride into the mountain hall, where the troll king gives Peer the choice of becoming a troll if Peer is to marry his daughter. Peer agrees to a number of conditions, but desists in the end. He is then confronted with the fact that the woman in green is with child. Peer denies it, maintaining that he never touched her, but the troll king replies that he begot the child in his head as he desired his daughter, that being the way of humans and trolls. Crucial for the plot and understanding the play is the question asked by the troll king: What is the difference between a troll and a man?
The answer given by the old man of the mountain is: “Out there, where sky shines, humans say: ‘To thyself be true.’ In here, trolls say: ‘Be true to yourself-ish.’” Egotism is a trait typical of trolls in this play. From then on, Peer makes this his motto, claiming, as time passes, to be himself – whatever that is. One of the most interesting characters is Bøyg, a creature who has no real description. To the question “Who are you?” the Bøyg answers: “Myself.” In time, Peer also takes the Bøyg’s leading line as a motto: “Go around.” The rest of his life, he “beats around the bush” instead of facing himself, or the truth.
Upon waking up, Peer is confronted by Helga, Solveig’s sister, who gives him food and regards from Solveig. Peer replies by giving Helga a silver button for Solveig, asking that Solveig not forget him.
Act III
An outlaw, Peer struggles to build his own cottage in the hills, and while doing this, Solveig turns up, insisting on living with him. She has made her choice, she says, and there is no going back for her. Peer joyfully welcomes her, but as she enters the cabin, an elderly woman in a green dress appears with a limping boy at her side. This is the woman in green from the mountain hall. She has cursed him to remember her and all his sins every time he looks at Solveig. Unable to bear this, Peer leaves, saying: “I have got something heavy to fetch.” He returns in time for his mother’s death, and then sets off overseas.
Act IV
Peer is gone many years. He pursues a variety of trades and plays different roles, including that of a merchant engaged in business on the Moroccan coast. Here he explains his philosophy of life, and we learn that his is dirty money. He has been a missionary, a slave trader and many other things. His friends rob him and leave him on the shore, where he finds stolen bedouin gear and, while wearing this, is hailed as a prophet by a local tribe. He unsuccessfully tries to seduce Anitra, the chieftain’s daughter. Next Peer becomes a historian and travels to Egypt. Wandering through the desert, he passes the Memnon and the Sphinx. As he addresses the Sphinx, believing her to be the Bøyg, he encounters the keeper of the local madhouse, himself insane, who regards Peer as the bringer of supreme wisdom. When he goes to the madhouse, Peer understands that the patients live in their own worlds, being themselves to such a degree that nobody cares for anybody else. In his youth, Peer had dreamed of becoming an emperor. In this place, he is hailed as such – the emperor of the self. Peer despairs and calls for the “keeper of all fools” (God).
Act V
Finally, returning home as an old man, Peer is shipwrecked. Amongst those on board, he meets the Strange Passenger, considered by some scholars to be the ghost of Lord Byron. The Strange Passenger wants to use Peer’s corpse to discover where dreams have their seat, which Peer vehemently opposes. He lands on shore bereft of all of his possessions, a pitiful and grumpy old man. Back home in Norway, Peer Gynt attends a peasant funeral, and an auction, where he offers for sale everything from his earlier life. The auction takes place at the very farm where the wedding once was held. Peer stumbles along and is confronted with everything he did not do, his unsung songs, his unmade works, his unwept tears and the questions that were never asked. His mother comes back and claims that her deathbed went awry. Peer did not lead her to heaven with his ramblings. Peer escapes and is confronted with the button moulder, who maintains that Peer’s soul must be melted down with other faulty goods unless he can explain where and when in life he was himself. Peer protests, maintaining that he has never been anything else. Then he meets the troll king, who says that for most of his life Peer has been a troll, not a man. The button moulder says that Peer has to come up with something if he is not to be melted down. Peer looks for a priest to confess his sins, and a character named the Lean One (probably the Devil) turns up. He believes Peer cannot be considered a real sinner who can be sent to hell. He has not done anything serious. Peer despairs in the end, understanding that his life is forfeit. He understands he is nothing. At that moment, Solveig starts to sing – the cabin he himself built is close at hand, but he dares not enter. The Bøyg in him tells him “around.” The button moulder shows up and demands a list of sins, but Peer has none to give, unless Solveig can vouch for him. Then he breaks through to her, asking her for his sins, but she answers: “You have not sinned at all, my dearest boy.” Peer does not understand and believes himself lost; then he asks Solveig: “Where has Peer Gynt been since we last met? Where was I as the one I should have been, whole and true, with the mark of God on my brow?” She answers: “In my faith, in my hope, in my love.” Peer screams and calls her mother, hiding in her lap. Solveig sings her lullaby for him, and we might presume he dies in this last scene of the play, although there are no stage directions or dialogue to indicate that he actually does.
Behind the corner, the button moulder, who is sent by God, still waits, with the words: “Peer, we shall meet at the last crossroads, and then we shall see if… I’ll say no more.” |
