Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, The Glove, trans. Corinne François-Denève

Svava Riis has everything she needs to be happy. Raised by loving parents in Norway at the end of the 19th century, she devotes herself to philanthropy and is soon to marry a man of good standing, Alfred Christensen. But a chance discovery turns everything upside down: Alfred has been with other women before Svava, and is therefore not the ‘pure’ man she thought she was marrying. The wedding cannot go ahead. The town’s leading figures are in a panic and try to reason with her. They invoke the nature of men, custom, the risk of scandal, the duty of forgiveness… Will Svava yield or not? This edition brings together the two successive versions of Bjørnson’s play, one tinged with hope, the other radically disenchanted.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was a contemporary of Ibsen, now largely forgotten, but his social dramas earned him great success in his day. The Glove caused a scandal, and the author altered its content. This volume presents both versions of the play: the published version and the version that was performed.

Translation: Corinne François-Denève

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