The late sixties and the early seventies were with Bjoernson a period of unrest and transformation.  His previous work had been that of a genius isolated, comparatively speaking, and concentrated upon a small part of human life.  His frequent journeys abroad and the wider range of his reading now brought him into the full current of European thought, and led to a substitution of practical ideals for those of the visionary.  He felt that he must reculer pour mieux sauter, and for nearly a decade he produced little original work.  Yet his first attempt at a modern problem-play, ‘De Nygifte’ (The Newly Married Pair), curiously enough, dates from as far back as 1865.  This work was, however, a mere trifle, and has interest chiefly as a forerunner of what was to come.  It was not until 1874 that Bjoernson became conscious that his new thought was ripe enough to bear fruit, and that he began with ‘Redaktoeren’ (The Editor) the series of plays dealing with social problems that have been the characteristic work of his second period.  It is interesting to note, for comparison, the fact that the similar striking transformation of energy in Ibsen’s case dates from 1877, when ‘Samfundet’s Stoetter’ (The Pillars of Society) was produced, and that this work had, like Bjoernson’s ‘Redaktoeren,’ a forerunner in ‘De Unges Forbund’ (The League of Youth), published in 1869.  The list of Bjoernson’s problem-plays—­many of which have been extraordinarily successful upon the stage, both in the Scandinavian countries and in Germany—­includes in addition to ‘Redaktoeren,’ seven other pieces.  They are:  ‘En Fallit’ (A Bankruptcy:  1875), ‘Kongen’ (The King:  1877), ‘Leonarda’ (1879), ‘Det Ny System’ (The New System:  1879), ‘En Hanske’ (A Glove:  1883), ‘Over AEvne’ (Beyond the Strength:  1883), and ‘Geografi og Kjaerlighed’ (Geography and Love:  1885).  A sequel to ‘Over AEvne’ has also recently appeared.  The most noteworthy of these works, considered as acting plays, are ‘Redaktoeren’ and ‘En Fallit.’  The one has for its subject the degradation of modern journalism; the other attacks the low standard of commercial morality prevailing in modern society.  ‘En Hanske’ plants itself squarely upon the proposition that the obligations of morality are equally binding upon both sexes; a problem treated by Ibsen, after a somewhat different fashion, in ‘Gengangere’ (Ghosts).  This play has occasioned much heated discussion, for its theme is of the widest interest, besides being pivotal as regards Bjoernson’s sociological views.  ‘Over AEvne’ is a curiously wrought and delicate treatment of religious mysticism, fascinating to read, but not very definite in outcome.  ‘Kongen’ is probably the most remarkable, all things considered, of this series of plays, and Bjoernson told me some years ago that he considered it the most important of his works.  Taking frankly for granted that monarchy, whether absolute or constitutional, is an outworn institution, the play discusses the question