Peer Gynt

Scene 16, the first scene of Part Two, opens in Morocco. Peer is middle-aged, wearing “elegant travelling clothes” (117) and hosting a meal for a group of friends. His friends ask Peer how he came to be so worldly, and he responds, “Simple, gentlemen. It’s because I never married. To yourself be true. That’s my philosophy. Look out for Number One. You can’t do that if you’re a pack-camel for someone else’s well-being” (118). Peer alludes to a young princess who almost trapped him, but that her father demanded that he change himself and he refused. He reveals that he earned his fortune exporting goods, beginning with “heathen idols” that were “bound for China” (120). When he felt guilty for participating in such an “immoral trade” (120), he began to also export missionaries and their supplies for a profit. Peer refers to himself as “a citizen of the world” (121). Peer tells his friends that he plans to use his money to travel, but that his real goal is to become the emperor of the world.

Peer claims that he has been preparing to become emperor for his entire life, and that now he will achieve it “by the power of gold” (122). However, he needs more and therefore they must set sail that evening. Peer tells the group that the Greeks are revolting against the Turks, and that he plans to help the Turks because “[he] back[s] winners” (124). He sends his friends to Greece to offer the Greeks free weapons, saying: “The more you fan the war, the more I stand to gain” (124). Peer leaves the group and they talk among themselves, deciding to take over the ship and steal Peer’s gold. In Scene 17, Peer runs along the coastline, desperate as he sees his yacht speeding away. He begs God to stop them, reminding: “I send all those missions to China. I mean, one good turn” (126). Suddenly, the yacht explodes. Peer gives thanks, relieved that God is offering him “private protection” (126) since he is in the desert with no food or water. Terrified, he thinks he hears a lion, deciding to spend the night in a tree. He notes that God “takes such a fatherly interest” (127) then looks at the empty sea, musing that God does not, however, take an economical interest.

In a Moroccan camp, Scene 18 sees soldiers camping around a fire when two slaves enter, upset that someone has stolen the sheikh’s horse and clothing. An Officer threatens them each with a hundred lashes if they aren’t found and the soldiers jump into action. Scene 19 rises at dawn and finds Peer in his tree, fighting off a group of apes with a stick. They begin to throw feces at him, when Peer notices an older ape with something in his arms. Peer persuades the older ape to come to him and give him what he is carrying. In Scene 20, two thieves stand by a cave with the sheikh’s stolen horse and clothes. They hear Peer approaching and run. Peer enters and rests in the shade. He looks at the expanses before him and decides that he will establish his kingdom there. He has money and discovers the abandoned horse and the sheikh’s stolen clothing, jewels, and weapons. Climbing onto the horse, he repeats the line he said atop the troll princess’s pig: “You can tell a prince by the steed he rides!” (133).

Scene 21 opens with Peer in Moroccan clothing, surrounded by dancing and singing women. Anitra leads the women, extolling Peer as if he is a god. She informs Peer that there are men waiting to see him, but Peer refuses to allow men to be in his presence. Peer promises Anitra a place in paradise, but Anitra tells him that she has no soul. He protests, but Anitra tells him that she would rather have jewels than a soul. In Scene 22, Peer plays a lute, sitting under a tree and singing about Anitra. He listens at her tent to see if she is asleep, and she calls to him. Anitra lays at Peer’s feet, praising: “Your words are sweet music. Even when I don’t understand them. Master, tell me, if your servant just listens, can she get a soul?” (138). Peer affirms that she will get a soul, but that “hearts matter more than souls” (138). The action shifts into Scene 23, and Peer carries Anitra off on his white horse. She fights him until he gives her his ring. 

As Peer attempts to woo Anitra, she responds by asking for more jewelry. He promises that she will get her soul when they arrive at his castle which is a thousand miles away. Anitra refuses, claiming that it is too far. She hits him with his whip and steals his horse. Peer moans: “Not again…!” (142). Scene 24 finds Peer in the same spot an hour later. He begins to take off his Bedouin clothing until he is back in European dress. He rebukes himself, then resolves to become a traveling history scholar by releasing aspirations for money, cutting ties with any family and friends, and especially avoiding women. Scene 25 returns to Solveig, who still waits in Peer’s hut. She has become a “beautiful middle-aged woman” (145). Solveig has faith that Peer will return, praying for his safety. In Scene2 26, Peer is in Egypt at dawn. He looks to the statue of Memnon for inspiration in his scholarly pursuits. When the sun rises, the statue sings. Peer listens, then notes: “Statue sang. Words clear; meaning obscure. Obviously a hallucination from first to last. Apart from that, so far today, nothing else of note” (147). 

Scene 27 finds him in Cairo before the Sphinx. Peer comments that the Sphinx reminds him of the Bøyg. He calls out: “Hey Bøyg, who are you?” (148).The Voice replies from behind the Sphinx: “Ach, Sphinx, wer bist du?” (148). Peer makes a note that the Sphinx had a German echo with a Berlin accent. Then a man, Begriffenfeldt, emerges from behind the monolith and concludes that he was the source of the voice. Peer tells Begriffenfeldt that he knew the Sphinx a long time ago, and Begriffenfeldt asks excitedly who he is. Peer replies, “Easy. He’s himself” (149). Begriffenfeldt is overjoyed with this response and invites Peer to the Institute, which he directs. He calls Peer “enlightenment’s emperor” (150) and leads him off. Scene 28 reveals a Cairo madhouse. Four wardens wait for the director to return. Begriffenfeldt brings Peer inside, locking the gate behind them. He then directs the wardens into cages, locking them in and tossing the key down a well. Begriffenfeldt takes Peer aside, confiding: “Last night, at eleven p.m., Common Sense expired” (151).

Begriffenfeldt tells Peer that until that moment, the place they are in was a madhouse. But when Common Sense expired, “all former lunatics became sane” and all intelligent people “began to rave” (152). Begriffenfeldt shouts to the other inmates to come in and praise their new emperor. Peer claims that he doesn’t deserve that title, but Begriffenfeldt asks, “The man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx? The man who is… himself?” (154). Peer responds that then he must be in the wrong place because “while here, […] you have to be beside yourself” (154). Begriffenfeldt reassures him that they are all entirely themselves and only concerned with themselves. Peer meets his “subjects.” The first, Huhu, tells Peer that he rails against language, desiring instead to find a primal scream. Peer advises Huhu to go to the forests of Morocco where the orangutans screech and to join them. The next, an Egyptian, carries the mummy of King Apis and believes that he too is King Apis. Peer suggests that he hang himself, becoming upset when the Egyptian actually does so. The third “subject,” Hussein, claims that he is a quill, but everyone believes he is a sandbox because he’s too dull. Begriffenfeldt hands him a knife to “sharpen himself” and Hussein cuts his own throat. Overcome, Peer passes out, falling in the mud. Begriffenfeldt places a straw crown on his head and leads the inmates in the cheer: “Long live the emperor of self!” (157).

In Scene 29, Peer is an old man on a ship off the Norwegian coast. He tells the Captain to remind him to tip the crew but, upon learning that they all have wives and children at home, refuses to “fork out for other people’s children” since “no one’s waiting for old Peer Gynt” (160). They pass a shipwreck with three survivors, and Peer tells them to offer a lifeboat. The Captain balks, claiming: “It’d be swamped” (161). Peer offers money, but they still refuse, and a Helmsman announces: “The wreck’s gone down” (161). Peer worries: “In weather like tonight’s, look out for God” (161), but soothes himself that he tried to give money to save the survivors and isn’t to blame. A stranger approaches Peer, identifying himself as a “fellow passenger” (162), to which Peer replies, “Fellow passenger? I’m the only one” (162). The passenger tells Peer that he doesn’t step into sunlight. He makes conversation, enjoying the idea that the weather means shipwrecks and “corpses washed up on shore” (162). The stranger asks Peer to donate his own corpse to science if he doesn’t make it out of the storm alive. Peer responds angrily, and the stranger says, “I’ll talk to you when you’re sinking. You’ll be in a better temper then” (164). Peer asks a crew member about the stranger, who confirms that Peer is the only passenger. The crew spots land, but then the ship crashes onto rocks.

The ship is sinking in Scene 30. Peer clings to the boat’s hull, and the ship’s cook appears and tries to cling too, but there isn’t enough room. The cook begs for the sake of his children, and Peer responds, “I’ve still to have my kids” (165). The cook loses his grip and Peer holds him, urging him to pray. The cook doesn’t know “Our Father” and begins: “Give us this day...” (166). Peer lets him sink, telling himself: “Amen, he was himself, right to the end” (166). The stranger returns to ask for Peer’s corpse again. Peer exclaims, “I’ll go mad! Who are you?” (167). The stranger responds: “A friend” (167). Peer guesses that he is the Devil. Then he guesses that the stranger is an angel of mercy. Peer tells the stranger that he refuses to die, and the stranger says, “Of course you will. No one ever dies in the middle of Act Five” (168), and disappears. Peer comments, “I might have guessed. A critic!” (168). In Scene 31, Peer is in the hills. He passes a funeral in a churchyard and cries, “Some poor devil going the way of all flesh. Thank God it isn’t me!” (169). Then he enters the churchyard. 

A priest eulogizes the dead person. It is the man who Peer once saw as a boy, chopping his finger off to avoid the military. Rejected by the services, he had married, had children, and built a farm, but he always kept his four-fingered hand in his pocket, ashamed. The priest calls him: “A traitor? No patriot? Perhaps. Up there, in his own small circle, where his work lay, there he was a hero. There he was himself, his metal rang true. His life was one long tune played on muted strings. He fought his own small war, the peasant’s war, and fell” (170). Afterward, Peer says, “Now that’s what I call Christianity! That’s what I call religion! Pah! Who needs it? Just be yourself. It’s time I went home” (170). In Scene 32, Peer returns to Haegstad, the location of Ingrid’s ill-fated wedding, where an auction is taking place. Peer watches from afar, musing: “In or out, it’s just as far. This side or that, it’s just as narrow. Time gnaws; the stream divides. ‘Go round,’ said the Bøyg, and so I must” (171). 

Peer sees a man in mourning emerging from the auction, greeting: “A stranger! Afternoon, old man” (171). He does not recognize the man as Aslak the blacksmith and asks him what event is occurring: “A christening? A wedding?” (171).Aslak tells him that it is a property auction because the owner is dead. He says, “Everything ends. I was a blacksmith once. End of story” (171). Peer agrees: “All stories end the same way. When I was a lad, I knew them all” (171). A young man appears, announcing: “Look what I bought! Peer Gynt’s old casting-ladle” (171). Peer asks, “Peer Gynt? Who was he?” (171). Aslak responds, “Family. Just family. Hers—the dead one. And Aslak’s—her husband” (172). Mads Moen, the man in grey, adds, “Don’t forget Mads Moen! His too!” (172).He continues, “What’s it matter? We’re all family. All of us here at Haegstad. Peer Gynt’s close kin” (172). They leave, and Peer announces that he too will auction off his belongings. He tells the interested young man that he has a castle on the hill to sell. The young man offers a button, and Peer says, “Make it a drunk. It’s an insult to offer less” (172).

Peer continues the auction, offering other imaginary items and items from his past. A steward enters, telling Peer to stop. Peer says, “Just a minute. Who was Peer Gynt?” (174). The steward says, “A hopeless case. A yarnspinner” (174). An elderly man informs him that Peer Gynt “sailed away. Foreign parts. Came to a bad end. Hanged, years ago” (174). Peer offers the crowd a story, which they accept. He tells about San Francisco, “the whole town swarmed with freaks” (175) with odd talents. The Devil himself applies to join the town, auditioning by producing a pig that he then butchers. The crowd is impressed but agrees: “No real pig ever tittered quite like that” (175). Peer adds, “Poor old Devil. Forgot the first rule of showbusiness: don’t outsmart your audience” (175). Bowing, he exits, ironically “leaving a baffled silence” (175). Scene 33 finds Peer in the forest on Whitsun Eve, the night before the Christian festival of Pentecost. He is digging for wild onions, and “in the background, [there is] a hut with reindeer horns over the doorway” (176). Peer imagines the epitaph he will write for himself before he dies: “Here lies Peer Gynt. Not a bad chap. The forest Kaiser” (176) then laughs, telling himself: “You’re an onion, not an emperor. I’ll peel you, Peer” (176). As he peels an onion, Peer refers to each layer as a phase of his life. He ponders: “Ha, very fresh: stinks of lies. My eyes are watering. What a lot of layers! Do we never reach the heart? Christ, never! There’s nothing else but layers. Smaller and smaller. Nature’s little joke!” (177). Peer sees the hut, noting its familiarity. Solveig sings from within, longing for Peer to return. Listening, Peer exclaims, “One who remembered and one who forgot. One who was faithful and one who betrayed. O heavy beyond all lightening! Heart’s grief! It was here my empire lay” (177). Then he runs off into the forest.

In Scene 34, Peer finds a clearing that has been stripped of trees by a fire. Lamenting his unbuilt kingdom, he hears children’s voices. Threadballs on the ground whisper: “We are thoughts. You should have thought us” (179). Withered Leaves cry: “We are words. You should have said us” (180). Whistling in the Wind says: “We are songs. You should have sung us” (180). Dewdrops tell him: “We are tears. You should have wept us” (180). Broken Straws accuse: “We are deeds. You should have done us. Wait till judgement. Then we’ll tell” (181). Then Peer hears Åse’s voice. She says, “Look where you’ve dumped me, here in this snowdrift. I’m soaking. I’m aching. Can’t you be careful? Where is that castle? The Devil took over as soon as you picked up that whip” (181). Peer leaves, asserting: “No point in staying. Bad enough to bear one’s own sins. Bear the Devil’s too, you’re done for: might as well be six feet under” (181). Peer meets the Button Molder in Scene 35, who recognizes him. The Button Molder says, “Perfect! The man I was sent to find” (182). He tells Peer that his body is going to die and that he is there to melt down his soul.

Peer laments: “What an end to your journey! I wasn’t all that bad. An idiot perhaps. Not a proper sinner” (183). The Button Molder informs him that this is why he is to be melted down and remolded, claiming: “I’ve got my orders. Look: ‘Fetch Gynt. He’s totally missed his way. Faulty merchandise—straight into the ladle’” (183). Peer resists, begging for time to “prove I’ve been myself” through “witnesses” and “sworn statements” (184). He pleads, “Just lend me myself, for a little while. I won’t run away. It’s only natural once you’ve got a self, to fight to keep it” (184). The Button Molder reluctantly agrees. In Scene 36, Peer frantically searches for witnesses. He happens upon the Old Man, the troll king from Part One. The king forgives Peer for leaving his daughter, blaming it on his youth. He admits that his daughter was “nothing but trouble” (186). Peer asks the old king to be a witness, swearing that he had given up riches and a kingdom in order to stay himself. But the king claims that would be a lie since Peer did change when he adopted the trolls’ motto: “Be true to yourself-ish” (188). Peer repeats, “Selfish!” (188). Peer rejects the king’s claim that Peer had been living as a troll, exclaiming: “Shut up! You’re mad. You’re senile. Find an old trolls’ home” (188). The king tells Peer sadly, “I wish I could. But my grandson keeps telling people I don’t exist. I’m a folk tale. Family! They’re the worst. It’s hard to be a legend” (188). Peer agrees, “I know what you mean” (188). 

Peer meets the Button Molder again in Scene 37 who knows that he hasn’t found witnesses yet. Peer asks, “What’s it mean, to be yourself?” (189). The Button Molder tells him: “To be yourself is to destroy your Self” (190). Confused, Peer says, “Listen: I give up my claim to be myself. It’s too hard to prove” (190). Instead, Peer will prove that he is a sinner and bring documentation from a priest. In Scene 38, Peer comes across a thin person, “wearing a cassock with its skirts looped up, and carrying a large bird-net” (191). Peer attempts to confess, admitting that his sins are “trifles” as he “never went in for sins in bulk” (191). The thin man that if that is the case, then Peer is wasting his time. The thin man reveals that he is the Devil. The Devil offers him help, as long as he doesn’t “ask for power or cash” (192). Peer wants his own place, a “corner of [his] own” where he can “come and go as [he] likes” (192). The thin person tells him that he gets that request all the time. Peer tries to convince the Devil that he is a sinner, but the Devil compares him to the soul he is collecting, a real sinner who “never stopped being himself” (193), or at least claims as much. Peer asks the Devil who is he collecting, and he tells him that his name is “Peer Gynt” (194). Peer says that he is an acquaintance of the man the Devil is looking for and that Peer Gynt must be what he claims because he doesn’t lie. Peer sends him to the Cape of Good Hope, where he supposedly last saw Peer heading.

Frustrated, Peer cries, “Is there no one? No one in all creation? In heaven? In hell? Beautiful Earth, forgive me for pointlessly treading you. Beautiful Sun, you wasted your rays on an empty house. Life! What a price to pay for being born” (196). Peer once again crosses paths with the Button Molder, who tells him that he has run out of time. Peer sees a light in the distance and hears a woman singing. He exclaims, “That’s it! That’s where I’ll hear my sins” (196). Peer leads the Button Molder back to the hut where Solveig, dressed for church, is old and nearly blind. Peer throws himself at her feet, begging her to forgive his sins. She responds, “No guilt. No sins. My love!” (198). Peer begs her to call out a list of his sins. She says, “You’ve made my life a beautiful song” (198). Peer tells her that she must guess the answer to the riddle: “Where has Peer Gynt been? […] Myself, entire, complete – Peer Gynt, with God’s stamp on my brow?” (198). She replies, “In my faith. In my hope. In my love” (198). Taken aback, he asks, “What? Your love? In your love? My… self exists in that?” (199). He begs her to hide him in her love, his face buried in her lap. She sings a lullaby, as the Button Molder tells Peer that they will meet at the last crossroads. Solveig only sings louder.