Ibsen and Hauptman I 5 



And yet she is loath to leave this garden which she claims has 

 been so cold and hateful to her, and she catches up and carries off 

 the ring which Karl has thrown away. 



The first half of the concluding act is largely given up to em- 

 phasizing this change in Gersuind's attitude toward the Kaiser. 

 She is dying of poison administered by Ercambald the night of 

 the revel at the tavern. She, to whom all wine is hateful, drank 

 the draught because she fancied it to be Karl who offered it : 



" Er hatte langes Haar : wie Kaiser Karls 

 so weiss, und deshalb trank ich sein Gemische." 



She cherishes the ring still. Her infatuation for Rorico is 

 gone: 



. . . " Er 

 ist schon ! doch nicht, wie Karl ! bei weitem : nein ! 

 Karl ist ein Gott ! wir andern sind nur Menschen !" 



The final proof is given by the Oberin, who tells the king that 

 Gersuind died with his name upon her lips. 



There can be no question, it seems to me, that Gersuind is 

 brought to realize the greatness of Karl's character. This soften- 

 ing cannot be due merely to physical weakness, for she exhibits 

 all of her old perversity toward the sister who waits on her so 

 faithfully. It would perhaps be too much to say that she accepts 

 Karl's point of view, or his philosophy of life, but she is overcome 

 by his personality. 



But though Karl is the victor in the conflict of personalities, he 

 does not come off scatheless. He is tormented by remorse for 

 having cast her off. But this is not all. According to all the 

 traditions of his faith and training, she must be, as he says, " eine 

 Flocke Hollenglut," and yet his bigness of soul revolts at this 

 and refuses to accept it. In whatever light he regards her, she 

 upsets his fixed ideas of life, and retains her influence over him 

 as something mysterious, tantalizing with the hint of a vision 

 caught for an instant but not comprehended. There is something 

 very noble and pathetic in his last words about Gersuind : 



" Recht so : hebt sie empor ! tragt sie hinweg ! 

 Ich muss noch immer lernen ! Muss von ihr 



257 



