Aftenposten
- The National Theatre: Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
- The drama in Heddal
- Vast floods in America: 15 million dollars in damage
A prominent Merchant of Venice review interprets Bassanio through debt and spending. The page also argues about intoxication and criminal responsibility after an acquittal and reports major American floods.
Theatre opening, selected Heddal argument and complete flood brief; full stage review and court record not reproduced.
Translation
The National Theatre: Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
A scene from Act Three. Mrs. Dybwad as Portia and Oddvar as Bassanio.
The young nobleman Bassanio is a likeable fellow, but also a reckless rogue—the sort who brings sorrow to parents and fathers-in-law, as alive and familiar to us today as ever.
Inevitably comes the bitter moment when Count Bassanio has run himself into a corner and must seriously look for a way out. Today’s Bassanio, Shakespeare’s carefree spendthrift, has reached that critical point before the curtain even rises. Every source has been tapped and drained. He faces the future with a certain anxiety, not because his debts are large, but because they prevent him from running up more.
The drama in Heddal
Olav Løvheim, who fired a shotgun at his two companions during a dance in Heddal, was acquitted the day before yesterday by the court of appeal in Skien.
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We know the case only from the reports.
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We oppose prohibition. We want to get rid of this home-distilled liquor, which time and again gives the plea of unconsciousness its best chance. We want criminal law tightened so that there is no room at all for argument over the degree of drunkenness. In short: the greatest possible freedom, with full and undivided responsibility!
We have therefore also been pleased to see that the criminal-law commission, chaired by Professor Skeie, has presented a draft strengthening the criminal code, giving section 45 the following wording: “Unconsciousness resulting from self-induced intoxication—caused by alcohol or other substances—does not exclude punishment.”
Vast floods in America: 15 million dollars in damage
New York, 16 September.
A telegram from Chicago reports that the western Midwestern states have been struck by floods unlike any seen in the past fifty years. Thousands of mål of land are under water, and many families have had to leave their properties.
The damage is estimated at about 15 million dollars.
Context
Debt sets the play in motion
Bassanio’s wish to woo Portia is entangled with his need for money, and Antonio’s help draws the pair into Shylock’s bond. That financial starting point gives the critic’s portrait its force: charm and romance depend on somebody extending credit. The review invites its audience to recognize a familiar contemporary spendthrift in Shakespeare’s nobleman, making the old play feel socially immediate before discussing the production in detail.
Freedom to drink, responsibility for its consequences
The Heddal editorial joins opposition to prohibition with support for stricter criminal responsibility. These positions fit its view that suppressing legal drink encouraged dangerous home distilling while intoxication could then be used as a defence. Norway was approaching the 1926 referendum on the spirits ban, followed by the return of spirits sales in 1927. The proposed section 45 lets the paper present an alternative to prohibition: individual freedom combined with liability for self-induced intoxication.
Making a distant flood tangible
The Chicago telegram translates a distant disaster into three kinds of impact: land under water, displaced families and a money estimate. Its fifty-year comparison conveys exceptional scale, while the Norwegian land measure makes the extent easier for its local readership to imagine. The result is more than a weather bulletin: it connects damaged property, interrupted livelihoods and forced movement in a compact report for readers across the Atlantic.
Original
Nationaltheatret. Shakespeare: Kjøbmanden i Venedig.
Scene fra tredje akt. Fru Dybwad som Portia og Oddvar som Bassanio.
Den unge adelsmand Bassanio er en elskværdig fyr, men ogsaa en letsindig knekt — typen paa en forældre- og svigerfarbedrøver, slik som vi har ham lyslevende den dag idag.
Ufravigelig kommer den bitre stund, da greven Bassanio har kjørt sig fast og alvorlig maa se sig om efter nye utveie. Dagens Bassanio, Shakespeares sorgløse pengetriller, er naad til det kritiske punkt, allerede i det øieblik, teppet gaar op. Alle kilder er tappet og tømt. Han ser med en viss grad av ængstelse fremtiden imøte, ikke fordi hans gjæld er stor, men fordi den hindrer ham i at gjøre mere gjæld.
Dramaet i Heddal.
Olav Løvheim, som skjøt paa sine to kamerater med haglgevær under en dansemoro i Heddal, blev i forgaars frifundet ved lagmandsretten i Skien.
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Vi kjender saken bare fra referatene.
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Vi er imot forbudet, vi vil ha avskaffet dette heimebrændte, som gang paa gang gir bevisstløshets-procedyren de beste chancer, vi vil ha skjærpet straffelovgivningen, saa der i det hele tat ikke blir plas for nogen procedyre paa fuldskapsgraden. I faa ord: størst mulig frihet under fuldt og helt ansvar!
Det er derfor ogsaa med tilfredshet vi har set, at straffelovkommissionen, hvis formand er professor Skeie, har fremlagt et utkast til skjærpelse av straffeloven, hvori lovens paragraf 45 faar følgende lydelse: „Bevisstløshet, som er en følge av selvforskyldt rus — fremkaldt ved alkohol eller andre midler — utelukker ikke straf.“
Vældige oversvømmelser i Amerika. Skade for 15 millioner dollar.
New York, 16de september.
Fra Chicago telegraferes, at de vestlige mellemstater er blit hjemsøkt av oversvømmelser, hvis make man ikke har set i de siste femti aar. Tusener av maal er sat under vand og mange familier har maattet forlate sine eiendommer.
Skaden anslaaes til omkring 15 millioner dollar.