SOURCE: "Scribe and Hebbel," in Modern Drama, translated by Karin Elliott, Basil Blackwell, 1952, pp. 1-15.

The following excerpt is taken from a work that first appeared in Swedish in 1948. Using the historical drama The Glass of Water as his model, Lamm investigates Scribe's dramatic technique and assesses his influence on subsequent playwrights throughout Europe, most notably Henrik Ibsen

[The German poet and playwright Friedrich Hebbel] writes in his diary; "A real drama can be compared with a big building, which has as many rooms and passages under the ground as above it. Ordinary people only see the latter, but the builder knows both".

Scribe and Public Taste:

[Scribe] threw himself heart and soul into the present and took the public taste as he found it. Eager for novelty—unscrupulous as to taste—impatient of analysis and laborious exposition of character—intolerant of mere polish or beauty of dialogue...