But his dumbness was not so bitterly ironical as it was popularly
supposed to be. It came largely from a very strange passivity which made
definite action unwelcome to him. He could never be induced to pay
visits, yet he would urge his wife and his son to accept invitations,
and when they returned he would insist on being told every particular--
who was there, what was said, even what everybody wore. He never went to
a theatre or concert-room, except on the very rare occasions when he
could be induced to be present at the performance of his own plays. But
he was extremely fond of hearing about the stage. He had a memory for
little things and an observation of trifles which was extraordinary. He
thought it amazing that people could go into a room and not notice the
pattern of the carpet, the color of the curtains, the objects on the
walls; these being details which he could not help observing and
retaining. This trait comes out in his copious and minute stage
directions.
Ibsen was simplicity itself; no man was ever less affected. But his
character was closed; he was perpetually on the defensive.
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