BILLING: Captain Horster?
HORSTER, turning: Oh, come in. I don’t have enough chairs for a lot of people so I decided not to have chairs at all.
BILLING: My name is Billing. Don’t you remember, at the Doctor’s house?
HORSTER, a little coldly: Oh, yes, sure. I’ve been so busy I didn’t recognize you. He goes to a window and looks out. Why don’t those people come inside?
BILLING: I don’t know, I guess they’re waiting for the Mayor or somebody important so they can be sure it’s respectable in here. I wanted to ask you a question before it begins, Captain. Why are you lending your house for this? I never heard of you connected with anything political.
HORSTER, standing still: I’ll answer that. I travel most of the year and—did you ever travel?
BILLING: Not abroad, no.
HORSTER: Well, I’ve been in a lot of places where people aren’t allowed to say unpopular things. Did you know that?
BILLING: Sure, I’ve read about it.
HORSTER, simply: Well, I don’t like it. He starts to go out.
BILLING: One more question. What’s your opinion about the Doctor’s proposition to rebuild the springs?
HORSTER, turning, thinks, then: Don’t understand a thing about it.
Three citizens enter.
HORSTER: Come in, come in. I don’t have enough chairs so you’ll just have to stand. He goes out.
FIRST CITIZEN: Try the horn.
SECOND CITIZEN: No, let him start to talk first.
THIRD CITIZEN, a big beef of a man, takes out a horn: Wait’ll they hear this! I could blow your mustache off with this!
Horster returns. He sees the horn and stops abruptly.
HORSTER: I don’t want any roughhouse, you hear me?
Mrs. Stockmann and Petra enter.
HORSTER: Come in. I’ve got chairs just for you.
MRS. STOCKMANN, nervously: There’s quite a crowd on the sidewalk. Why don’t they come in?
HORSTER: I suppose they’re waiting for the Mayor.
PETRA: Are all those people on his side?
HORSTER: Who knows? People are bashful, and it’s so unusual to come to a meeting like this, I suppose they—
BILLING, going over to this group: Good evening, ladies. They simply look at him. I don’t blame you for not speaking. I just wanted to say I don’t think this is going to be a place for ladies tonight.
MRS. STOCKMANN: I don’t remember asking your advice, Mr. Billing.
BILLING: I’m not as bad as you think, Mrs. Stockmann.
MRS. STOCKMANN: Then why did you print the Mayor’s statement and not a word about my husband’s report? Nobody’s had a chance to find out what he really stands for. Why, everybody on the street there is against him already!
BILLING: If we printed his report it only would have hurt your husband.
MRS. STOCKMANN: Mr. Billing, I’ve never said this to anyone in my life, but I think you’re a liar.
Suddenly the third citizen lets out a blast on his horn. The women jump, Billing and Horster turn around quickly.
HORSTER: You do that once more and I’ll throw you out of here!
Peter Stockmann enters. Behind him comes the crowd. He pretends to be unconnected with them. He goes straight to Mrs. Stockmann, bows.
PETER STOCKMANN: Catherine? Petra?
PETRA: Good evening.
PETER STOCKMANN: Why so coldly? He wanted a meeting and he’s got it. To Horster: Isn’t he here?
HORSTER: The Doctor is going around town to be sure there’s a good attendance.
PETER STOCKMANN: Fair enough. By the way, Petra, did you paint that poster? The one somebody stuck on the Town Hall?
PETRA: If you can call it painting, yes.
PETER STOCKMANN: You know I could arrest you? It’s against the law to deface the Town Hall.
PETRA: Well, here I am. She holds out her hands for the handcuffs.
MRS. STOCKMANN, taking it seriously: If you arrest her, Peter, I’ll never speak to you!
PETER STOCKMANN, laughing: Catherine, you have no sense of humor!
He crosses and sits down at the left. They sit right. A drunk comes out of the crowd.
DRUNK: Say, Billy, who’s runnin’? Who’s the candidate?
HORSTER: You’re drunk, Mister, now get out of here!
DRUNK: There’s no law says a man who’s drunk can’t vote!
HORSTER, pushing the drunk toward the door as the crowd laughs: Get out of here! Get out!
DRUNK: I wanna vote! I got a right to vote!
Aslaksen enters hurriedly, sees Peter Stockmann, and rushes to him.
ASLAKSEN: Your Honor . . . He points to the door. He’s . . .
DR. STOCKMANN, offstage: Right this way, gentlemen! In you go, come on, fellows!
Hovstad enters, glances at Peter Stockmann and Aslaksen, then at Dr. Stockmann and another crowd behind him, who enter.
DR. STOCKMANN: Sorry, no chairs, gentlemen, but we couldn’t get a hall, y’know, so just relax. It won’t take long anyway. He goes to the platform, sees Peter Stockmann. Glad you’re here, Peter!
PETER STOCKMANN: Wouldn’t miss it for the world.
DR. STOCKMANN: How do you feel, Catherine?
MRS. STOCKMANN, nervously: Just promise me, don’t lose your temper . . .
HORSTER, seeing the drunk pop in through the door: Did I tell you to get out of here!
DRUNK: Look, if you ain’t votin’, what the hell’s going on here? Horster starts after him. Don’t push!
PETER STOCKMANN, to the drunk: I order you to get out of here and stay out!
DRUNK: I don’t like the tone of your voice! And if you don’t watch your step I’m gonna tell the Mayor right now, and he’ll throw yiz all in the jug! To all: What’re you, a revolution here?
The crowd bursts out laughing; the drunk laughs with them, and they push him out. Dr. Stockmann mounts the platform.
DR. STOCKMANN, quieting the crowd: All right, gentlemen, we might as well begin. Quiet down, please. He clears his throat. The issue is very simple—
ASLAKSEN: We haven’t elected a chairman, Doctor.
DR. STOCKMANN: I’m sorry, Mr. Aslaksen, this isn’t a meeting. I advertised a lecture and I—
A CITIZEN: I came to a meeting, Doctor. There’s got to be some kind of control here.
DR. STOCKMANN: What do you mean, control? What is there to control?
SECOND CITIZEN: Sure, let him speak, this is no meeting!
THIRD CITIZEN: Your Honor, why don’t you take charge of this—
DR. STOCKMANN: Just a minute now!
THIRD CITIZEN: Somebody responsible has got to take charge. There’s a big difference of opinion here—
DR. STOCKMANN: What makes you so sure? You don’t even know yet what I’m going to say.
THIRD CITIZEN: I’ve got a pretty good idea what you’re going to say, and I don’t like it! If a man doesn’t like it here, let him go where it suits him better. We don’t want any troublemakers here!
There is assent from much of the crowd. Dr. Stockmann looks at them with new surprise.
DR. STOCKMANN: Now look, friend, you don’t know anything about me—
FOURTH CITIZEN: We know plenty about you, Stockmann!
DR. STOCKMANN: From what? From the newspapers? How do you know I don’t like this town? He picks up his manuscript. I’m here to save the life of this town!
PETER STOCKMANN, quickly: Now just a minute, Doctor, I think the democratic thing to do is to elect a chairman.
FIFTH CITIZEN: I nominate the Mayor!
Seconds are heard.
PETER STOCKMANN: No, no, no! That wouldn’t be fair. We want a neutral person. I suggest Mr. Aslaksen—
SECOND CITIZEN: I came to a lecture, I didn’t—
THIRD CITIZEN, to second citizen: What’re you afraid of, a fair fight? To the Mayor: Second Mr. Aslaksen!
The crowd assents.
DR. STOCKMANN: All right, if that’s your pleasure. I just want to remind you that the reason I called this meeting was that I have a very important message for you people and I couldn’t get it into the press, and nobody would rent me a hall. To Peter Stockmann: I just hope I’ll be given time to speak here. Mr. Aslaksen?
As Aslaksen mounts the platform and Dr. Stockmann steps down, Kiil enters, looks shrewdly around.
ASLAKSEN: I just have one word before we start. Whatever is said tonight, please remember, the highest civic virtue is moderation. He can’t help turning to Dr. Stockmann, then back to the crowd. Now if anybody wants to speak—
The drunk enters suddenly.
DRUNK, pointing at Aslaksen: I heard that! Since when you allowed to electioneer at the poles? Citizens push him toward the door amid laughter. I’m gonna report this to the Mayor, goddammit! They push him out and close the door.
ASLAKSEN: Quiet, please, quiet. Does anybody want the floor?
Dr. Stockmann starts to come forward, raising his hand, but Peter Stockmann also has his hand raised.
PETER STOCKMANN: Mr. Chairman!
ASLAKSEN, quickly recognizing Peter Stockmann: His Honor the Mayor will address the meeting.
Dr. Stockmann stops, looks at Peter Stockmann, and, suppressing a remark, returns to his place. The Mayor mounts the platform.
PETER STOCKMANN: Gentlemen, there’s no reason to take very long to settle this tonight and return to our ordinary, calm, and peaceful life. Here’s the issue: Doctor Stockmann, my brother—and believe me, it is not easy to say this—has decided to destroy Kirsten Springs, our Health Institute—
DR. STOCKMANN: Peter!
ASLAKSEN, ringing his bell: Let the Mayor continue, please. There mustn’t be any interruptions.
PETER STOCKMANN: He has a long and very involved way of going about it, but that’s the brunt of it, believe me.
THIRD CITIZEN: Then what’re we wasting time for? Run him out of town!
Others join in the cry.
PETER STOCKMANN: Now wait a minute. I want no violence here. I want you to understand his motives. He is a man, always has been, who is never happy unless he is badgering authority, ridiculing authority, destroying authority. He wants to attack the springs so he can prove that the administration blundered in the construction.
DR. STOCKMANN, to Aslaksen: May I speak? I—
ASLAKSEN: The Mayor’s not finished.
PETER STOCKMANN: Thank you. Now there are a number of people here who seem to feel that the Doctor has a right to say anything he pleases. After all, we are a democratic country. Now, God knows, in ordinary times I’d agree a hundred per cent with anybody’s right to say anything. But these are not ordinary times. Nations have crises, and so do towns. There are ruins of nations, and there are ruins of towns all over the world, and they were wrecked by people who, in the guise of reform, and pleading for justice, and so on, broke down all authority and left only revolution and chaos.
DR. STOCKMANN: What the hell are you talking about!
ASLAKSEN: I’ll have to insist, Doctor—
DR. STOCKMANN: I called a lecture! I didn’t invite him to attack me. He’s got the press and every hall in town to attack me, and I’ve got nothing but this room tonight!
ASLAKSEN: I don’t think you’re making a very good impression, Doctor.
Assenting laughter and catcalls. Again Dr. Stockmann is taken aback by this reaction.
ASLAKSEN: Please continue, Your Honor.
PETER STOCKMANN: Now this is our crisis. We know what this town was without our Institute. We could barely afford to keep the streets in condition. It was a dead, third-rate hamlet. Today we’re just on the verge of becoming internationally known as a resort. I predict that within five years the income of every man in this room will be immensely greater. I predict that our schools will be bigger and better. And in time this town will be crowded with fine carriages; great homes will be built here; first-class stores will open all along Main Street. I predict that if we are not defamed and maliciously attacked we will someday be one of the richest and most beautiful resort towns in the world. There are your choices. Now all you’ve got to do is ask yourselves a simple question: Has any one of us the right, the “democratic right,” as they like to call it, to pick at minor flaws in the springs, to exaggerate the most picayune faults? Cries of No, No! And to attempt to publish these defamations for the whole world to see? We live or die on what the outside world thinks of us. I believe there is a line that must be drawn, and if a man decides to cross that line, we the people must finally take him by the collar and declare, “You cannot say that.”
There is an uproar of assent. Aslaksen rings the bell.
PETER STOCKMANN, continuing: All right then. I think we all understand each other. Mr. Aslaksen, I move that Doctor Stockmann be prohibited from reading his report at this meeting! He goes back to his chair, which meanwhile Kiil has occupied.
Aslaksen rings the bell to quiet the enthusiasm. Dr. Stockmann is jumping to get up on the platform, the report in his hand.
ASLAKSEN: Quiet, please. Please now. I think we can proceed to the vote.
DR. STOCKMANN: Well, aren’t you going to let me speak at all?
ASLAKSEN: Doctor, we are just about to vote on that question.
DR. STOCKMANN: But damn it, man, I’ve got a right to—
PETRA, standing up: Point of order, Father!
DR. STOCKMANN, picking up the cue: Yes, point of order!
ASLAKSEN, turning to him now: Yes, Doctor.
Dr. Stockmann, at a loss, turns to Petra for further instructions.
PETRA: You want to discuss the motion.
DR. STOCKMANN: That’s right, damn it, I want to discuss the motion!
ASLAKSEN: Ah . . . He glances at Peter Stockmann. All right, go ahead.
DR. STOCKMANN, to the crowd: Now, listen. He points at Peter Stockmann. He talks and he talks and he talks, but not a word about the facts! He holds up the manuscript.
THIRD CITIZEN: We don’t want to hear any more about the water!
FOURTH CITIZEN: You’re just trying to blow up everything!
DR. STOCKMANN: Well, judge for yourselves, let me read—
Cries of No, No, No! The man with the horn blows it. Aslaksen rings the bell. Dr. Stockmann is utterly shaken. Astonished, he looks at the maddened faces. He lowers the hand holding the manuscript and steps back, defeated.
ASLAKSEN: Please, please now, quiet. We can’t have this uproar! Quiet returns. I think, Doctor, that the majority wants to take the vote before you start to speak. If they so will, you can speak. Otherwise, majority rules. You won’t deny that.
DR. STOCKMANN, turns, tosses the manuscript on the floor, turns back to Aslaksen: Don’t bother voting. I understand everything now. Can I have a few minutes—
PETER STOCKMANN: Mr. Chairman!
DR. STOCKMANN, to his brother: I won’t mention the Institute. I have a new discovery that’s a thousand times more important than all the Institutes in the world. To Aslaksen: May I have the platform.
ASLAKSEN, to the crowd: I don’t see how we can deny him that, as long as he confines himself to—
DR. STOCKMANN: The springs are not the subject. He mounts the platform, looks at the crowd. Before I go into my subject I want to congratulate the liberals and radicals among us, like Mr. Hovstad—
HOVSTAD: What do you mean, radical! Where’s your evidence to call me a radical!
DR. STOCKMANN: You’ve got me there. There isn’t any evidence. I guess there never really was. I just wanted to congratulate you on your self-control tonight—you who have fought in every parlor for the principle of free speech these many years.
HOVSTA
D: I believe in democracy. When my readers are overwhelmingly against something, I’m not going to impose my will on the majority.
DR. STOCKMANN: You have begun my remarks, Mr. Hovstad. He turns to the crowd. Gentlemen, Mrs. Stockmann, Miss Stockmann. Tonight I was struck by a sudden flash of light, a discovery second to none. But before I tell it to you—a little story. I put in a good many years in the north of our country. Up there the rulers of the world are the great seal and the gigantic squadrons of duck. Man lives on ice, huddled together in little piles of stones. His whole life consists of grubbing for food. Nothing more. He can barely speak his own language. And it came to me one day that it was romantic and sentimental for a man of my education to be tending these people. They had not yet reached the stage where they needed a doctor. If the truth were to be told, a veterinary would be more in order.
BILLING: Is that the way you refer to decent hard-working people!
DR. STOCKMANN: I expected that, my friend, but don’t think you can fog up my brain with that magic word—the People! Not any more! Just because there is a mass of organisms with the human shape, they do not automatically become a People. That honor has to be earned! Nor does one automatically become a Man by having human shape, and living in a house, and feeding one’s face—and agreeing with one’s neighbors. That name also has to be earned. Now, when I came to my conclusions about the springs—
PETER STOCKMANN: You have no right to—
DR. STOCKMANN: That’s a picayune thing, to catch me on a word, Peter. I am not going into the springs. To the crowd: When I became convinced of my theory about the water, the authorities moved in at once, and I said to myself, I will fight them to the death, because—
THIRD CITIZEN: What’re you trying to do, make a revolution here? He’s a revolutionist!
DR. STOCKMANN: Let me finish. I thought to myself: The majority, I have the majority! And let me tell you, friends, it was a grand feeling. Because that’s the reason I came back to this place of my birth. I wanted to give my education to this town. I loved it so, I spent months without pay or encouragement and dreamed up the whole project of the springs. And why? Not as my brother says, so that fine carriages could crowd our streets, but so that we might cure the sick, so that we might meet people from all over the world and learn from them, and become broader and more civilized. In other words, more like Men, more like A People.
The Penguin Arthur Miller Page 34