As dramatist, Björnson attained a skill which is being recognized by students of to-day. _The Newly-married Couple_, which was, probably, the first play to be written in original draft but held for later publication, has a psychological theme, well constructed--the adjustment necessary between the love of a maiden for her parents and the new, strange love for her husband. The characters are vital and the lines effective. Another early play, _Lame Hulda_ (_Halta Hulda_), was more emotionally intense; the heroine, lame for twenty-four years, experiences a brief, tragic passion for a man whose love is pledged elsewhere. There is lack of those elements of comedy that lighten the lessons of _The Newly-married Couple_. To the earlier period of play writing belongs, also, _Maria Stuart in Scotland_, a brilliant retelling of the familiar romance but lacking dramatic situations at the close; Björnson was always at his best in Scandinavian background; nevertheless John Knox is a commanding personality in this play. In this time of mental conflict between the ideal and the realities in life as they affected his development, he wrote that vigorous novel, _The Fisher Maiden_, with vivid characterization, and one of his most pictorial poems, _The Young Viking_. Truth is the demand of the dramatist, in every crisis in life, as depicted in his problem plays, from _The Bankrupt_ to _A Gauntlet_. With skill he shows The King, thwarted in his high ideals and his love, trying to “serve the freedom of the spirit,” to be a true “citizen-king” but ending his life in despair because of the deceit of others. _The Bankrupt_ has a strong character in Berent, the lawyer; the “problem” centers about the merchant’s temptation to use the money of others. _The Editor_ aroused much controversy, because it was claimed that Björnson had here satirized a Swedish editor but the charge was unfounded; rather the editor and his victims, Halvadan and Harald, typify journalistic conditions in every land. Mr. Brandes suggests that the dramatist may have been modeling these two brothers from the older poet, Wergeland and himself, in their struggles to create love for truth and freedom. In _Leonarda_, with lyrical as well as dramatic qualities, Björnson spoke a message of more tolerance and historical significance through three generations of Norwegian society. Two excellent translators of his plays have been Edwin Björkman and R. Farquharson Sharp (_see_ bibliography).