Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson, Når den Ny Vin Blomstrer [When the New Wine Blooms]

Kathy Rees (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.5: Norwegian Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London), Anja Tröger (University of Edinburgh)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1909

Places

Norway (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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This play is a study of modernity, about contemporary women, about estrangement in married life, and about the respective rights and desires of the older and the younger generations. The boldness and emancipation of the young women in the play reflects the situation in Norway in 1909 (women were to attain electoral franchise four years later, with relatively little struggle). It may be categorised as “good-natured comedy”, similar to

Love and Geography

(1885). The title alludes to a Norwegian proverb: “When the new wine blooms, the old wine ferments”.

Its setting is a well-to-do family home, with its veranda-fronted residence, set on the shore of the Christiania Fjord, within easy reach of the capital. There are several references to the steamer arriving and leaving. Arvik and his

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1490 words

Citation: Rees, Kathy. "Når den Ny Vin Blomstrer". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 October 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38801, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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