at was the
villain's claim to the title?" If a story cannot be made clear without
an elaborate study of one or more family trees, beware of it. In all
probability, it is of very little use for dramatic purposes. But before
giving it up, see whether the relationships, and other relations, cannot
be simplified. Complexities which at first seemed indispensable will
often prove to be mere useless encumbrances.

In _Pillars of Society_ Ibsen goes as far as any playwright ought to go
in postulating fine degrees of kinship--and perhaps a little further.
Karsten Bernick has married into a family whose gradations put something
of a strain on the apprehension and memory of an audience. We have to
bear in mind that Mrs. Bernick has (_a_) a half-sister, Lona Hessel;
(_b_) a full brother, Johan Toennesen; (_c_) a cousin, Hilmar Toennesen.
Then Bernick has an unmarried sister, Martha; another relationship,
however simple, to be borne in mind. And, finally, when we see Dina Dorf
living in Bernick's house, and know that Bernick has had an intrigue
with her mother, we are apt to fall into the error of supposing her to
be Bernick's daughter. There is only one line which proves that this is
not so--a remark to the effect that, when Madam Dorf came to the town.
Dina was already old enough to run about and play angels in the theatre.
Any one who does not happen to hear or notice this remark, is almost
certain to misapprehend Dina's parentage. Taking one thing with another,
then, the Bernick family group is rather more complex than is strictly
desirable. Ibsen's reasons for making Lona Hessel a half-sister instead
of a full sister of Mrs. Bernick are evident enough. He wanted her to be
a considerably older woman, of a very different type of character; and
it was necessary, in order to explain Karsten's desertion of Lona for
Betty, that the latter should be an heiress, while the former was
penniless. These reasons are clear and apparently adequate; yet it may
be doubted whether the dramatist did not lose more than he gained by
introducing even this small degree of complexity. It was certainly not
necessary to explain the difference of age and character between Lona
and Betty; while as for the money, there would have been nothing
improbable in supposing that a wealthy uncle had marked his disapproval
of Lona's strong-mindedness by bequeathing all his property to her
younger sister. Again, there is no reason why Hilmar should not have
been a br