Ghosts: Analysis of Major Characters
"Ghosts" is a play by Henrik Ibsen that delves into complex family dynamics, morality, and the burden of secrets. The central character, Mrs. Helen Alving, is a widow grappling with the legacy of her profligate husband and the societal expectations placed upon her. Despite her outward appearance of severity and strict adherence to duty, she harbors progressive views, particularly concerning her son Oswald's potential marriage to his half-sister Regina, whose true identity she knows but keeps hidden. Oswald, an art student suffering from a debilitating disease, returns home only to confront the grim realities of his inheritance—both genetic and moral.
Regina, initially unaware of her relationship to Oswald, embodies ambition and a desire to elevate her social standing. Her discovery of her true lineage complicates her aspirations and leads to troubling realizations for all involved. The character of Mr. Manders, the parish pastor, represents societal norms and moral righteousness, yet he is hypocritical and ultimately ineffective in guiding those around him. Jacob Engstrand, a carpenter, plays a manipulative role, seeking financial gain while feigning morality. Together, these characters navigate themes of legacy, repression, and the consequences of past choices, offering a poignant exploration of how secrets shape lives and relationships. This interplay of characters creates a rich narrative that raises questions about personal autonomy, familial duty, and societal constraints.
Ghosts: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Henrik Ibsen
First published: Gengangere, 1881 (English translation, 1885)
Genre: Play
Locale: Rosenvold, Norway
Plot: Social realism
Time: Nineteenth century
Mrs. Helen Alving, a widow, the mother of an ailing only son. Although she reads liberal books and has extraordinarily liberal views concerning the possible marriage of her son and his illegitimate half sister, whose identity is known only to Mrs. Alving, she is an outwardly severe woman whose life has been governed by duty. As a young wife, she had fled from her profligate husband, whom she had married for his money, to seek refuge with the parish pastor, Mr. Manders, with whom she had fallen in love. Mr. Manders righteously had sent her back to her husband, and they maintained the appearance of a home for the remainder of his life. With her husband's money, which she now loathes, Mrs. Alving has built an orphanage in memory of her husband. On the advice of Mr. Manders, she decides not to insure the building because to do so would be to show lack of faith. When the building burns, Mrs. Alving is indifferent. Although Mrs. Alving promises her son Oswald that she will administer some fatal pills to him when his mind goes, she is unable to do so at the conclusion of the play. Her revulsion and terror are unrelieved.
Oswald Alving, an art student afflicted with a disease, apparently syphilis, contracted or inherited from his father. He reveals to his mother that his mind is being blotted out by the disease, which doctors have told him was acquired early in his life. Because Mrs. Alving had sent Oswald away from home at seven years of age so that he would not realize his father's true nature, he believes he has brought the disease on himself. In addition, he has inherited his father's joy of life, now left behind with his art and his free-living companions abroad. Faced with mental oblivion, he comes home but finds no solace except in the contemplation of a possible marriage and departure with Regina, a young servant, in whom he recognizes the joy of life they have both inherited from their father. Incapacitated by the knowledge of his destiny, Oswald can no longer paint. He tries drink but gets little relief. After he tells his mother of his condition and his hope of marrying Regina, Mrs. Alving decides that she must tell them that they have the same father. This knowledge devastates Oswald. Shortly after he shows his mother the pills, which he says Regina would have been willing to give him, his mind goes, and he plaintively asks his mother to give him the sun.
Regina Engstrand, a servant, ostensibly the daughter of a carpenter. Her mother, Joanna, now dead, had been a maid in the Alving household. Mr. Alving was Regina's father. Unaware of her identity, Regina feels that she is above Engstrand,whowantshertoreturntohimandhelphimruna “home for homeless sailors.” Regina, ambitious to marry Oswald and improve her station even before the idea has occurred to Oswald, detests Engstrand, who drinks and accuses her mother of immoral behavior. When Regina discovers that she is Oswald's half sister, she leaves for the “Alving Home,” the sailors' refuge that Engstrand will finance with money from the Alving estate, money that Mr. Manders has secured for him. When Mrs. Alving tells her that she is going to her ruin, Regina shows no concern.
Mr. Manders, the pastor of the parish. When Mr. Manders reproves Mrs. Alving for deserting her husband and for sending her young son away to become a freethinking artist, she reveals the true nature of Mr. Alving, her reason for sending Oswald away, and the identity of Regina. After young Helen Alving's flight to him, Mr. Manders, fearful of his reputation, had never gone again to the Alving house. He is present now only to advise her about the business of the orphanage, but he proves a poor counselor. When the orphanage burns as the result of his snuffing a candle carelessly at prayer services and throwing it on a heap of shavings, his remorseful cry is, “And no insurance!” Manders, a self-righteous man, reproves Mrs. Alving for her liberal reading and unwise behavior and Oswald for his unconventional views, but he is completely taken in by the rascal Engstrand, who, Manders thinks, wants to reform. He pays Engstrand to assume blame for the orphanage fire.
Jacob Engstrand, a carpenter paid to marry Joanna, Regina's mother. Engstrand is a drinking man of no consequence, a rascal. Regina thinks at first that it would be improper for her to live in his home, even though at the time she thinks of him as her father. Engstrand suggests the fatal prayer service at the orphanage and later claims to have seen the candle fall in the shavings. Because he uses the occasion to get the Alving money from Manders, he may be lying. For the reward of the money paid him, he gladly assumes responsibility for the fire.