‘Man Needs an Illusion’: On Selma Lagerlöf

From The Wollondilly Press, New South Wales, Australia, 1909

Her art is saturated with romance, and her philosophy, if it could be summed up in a single sentence, would be: Man needs an illusion to be able to live. ‘Have you seen that he has an angel in his eyes?’ asks one of the characters in her stories. She herself seeks to see the angel in each and all of us. A Swedish writer has said of her: ‘She paints people as the pious Fra Angelico in the cloister cell, she paints with snow white and heavenly blue colors over a shining gold background, and she is ever hearing the bells of San Pasquale.’

“The distinguished critic, Oscar Levertin, sums her up as follows:—
‘In an age that is old and blasé, when even the poets find it hard to hide the wrinkles at their temples, and the ironic smile around their mouths, a woman genius grows up looking at the world as if it were her first wonder world of fairy tales, and what is more, she is able to tell what she sees in such a way that even the old and world-wise are made children again and hang on her lips, hardly daring to breathe for fear of missing a word. In an age of intellectual calculation this wonder appears, writer of fancy pure and simple, speaking from the well of simplicity in her own heart.

‘In a time of doubt and suspicion, when a hard and logical attitude toward life prevails, Selma Lagerlöf comes with her arms outstretched to a tender embrace of everything living, intoxicated by love and enthusiasm; people, animals, plants, and even inanimate things seem to come to life under her magical touch!’ She has renewed feelings and emotions that were thought to be long since dead and buried, and in a way that has touched all hearts. That is what makes her work so unique.