Ghosts By Henrik Ibsen: A Critical Essay

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The Effects Society Has On the Characters in "Ghosts"

Henrik Ibsen drew ideas for his plays from events in his life. Ibsen was born in Skien, Norway. During this time there was some tension between the Danish and the Norwegians. This animosity between the two cultures played a large part in Ibsen's life and his early work (Bloom 10).

In Ibsen's early childhood his parents were social and prosperous people. But when he was seven years of age his father was forced to mortgage their house and they went into financial ruin. He was forced to apprentice an apothecary to earn money, but he was shunned by the community when he had an illegitimate son at the age of eighteen. Although he never knew his son he still fulfilled his financial obligation to him. This event could be a prime example used by Ibsen for his play, "Ghosts" (Bloom 10).

When Henrik Ibsen wrote "Ghosts" he had been living in Italy. Here he started to write a short autobiography. This work was probably the foundation for one of his later works, "An Enemy of the People." Later, in June of 1881, he stopped all his works in progress to work on an idea he had been developing. By October "Ghosts" was completed and appeared as a book before Christmas. Right away it created the greatest scandal by any other book in Norwegian Literature (Beyer 1).

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One critic feels that the play "Ghosts" is a tragic drama. It is true to the definition of a tragedy stated by Aristotle. A true tragedy is defined by having unity of place, time and manner, and should also inspire intense feelings of pity for the tragic hero. Ibsen's "Ghosts" has these qualities. It has been described as the most classically constructed of Ibsen's plays by many critics (Meyer 40).

In the play, the protagonist, Mrs. Alving, is constantly struggling with the pressure society puts on her. The guilt and the pressure that is put on her by society is her antagonist. It can take the form of a person or emotion at any time in the play. The entire cast of characters is introduced in the first act or the exposition. The play covers the span of one night. In this night the play tells a large part of the story through the characters' retelling of the antecedent action of Mr. Alving's dishonest and adulterous habits. From act to act the scene stays the same and each act is related through plot by extension. Throughout the course of the night the protagonist's life of deceit falls apart and all is exposed. Her ruin is because of society and the way in which it controls her life. The characters live in a society in where deceit is encouraged rather then truth and where ones duty is to be adhered to despite all circumstances. The main theme of "Ghosts" is the extent to which society invades personal lives. Society has an effect on all the characters in Ibsen's play, "Ghosts" (Lytal ).

Mrs. Alving is controlled by her obsession of keeping up her appearance. For over ten years she hid the truth about her husband's affair to protect his reputation from the cruel society. She didn't want society to know what kind of a man her husband was, she wanted to keep his affair secret from the world around her. She admits this while speaking to Pastor Manders by saying

MRS. ALVING. That was just what I had to fight for incessantly, day after day. When Oswald was born, I thought I saw a slight improvement [in Mr. Alving's behavior]. But it didn't last long. And after that I had to fight doubly hard fight a desperate fight so that no one should know what sort of man my child's father was. You know quite well what an attractive manner he had; it seemed as if people could believe nothing but good of him. He was one of those men whose mode of life seems to have no effect upon their reputations. (Ibsen 1-)

She ends up living a lie to honor the reputation of her late husband. Not only does she do that but she also builds a sort of memorial to his false reputation. Mrs. Alving didn't want any of her husband's money to be used on her son so she built an orphanage with the money in Mr. Alving's name. The orphanage was just finished and stood as a reminder to her husband's false reputation. During the rising action of the play the truth is slowly told about Mr. Alving and the suspense builds as more and more learn the truth about what he was truly like. The rising action then leads up to the technical climax where the orphanage is set aflame. After this point in the play Mrs. Alving succumbs to all of society's pressures and the truth can be hidden no longer. Finally she must tell Oswald and Regina. The constricted nature of the society she lives in defeats her individuality by causing her to desire a certain image. Not only does this concealment of the truth on the part of society ruin her life and depress her, but it also ruins the lives of her husband's two children, Oswald and Regina (Fergusson 14-15)

The play reveals that Oswald and Regina have an attraction for each other. It is first confirmed at the plays dramatic climax. This occurs at the end of act one when Oswald is first discovered making sexual advances toward Regina. Later Regina and Oswald want to go off to Paris to live together. They feel their lives will be happy when they are together. This dream is ruined when they learn the truth about their origin, the truth that was once hidden because of rejection by society. Regina learns that Oswald is her half-brother and it would be incestuous to become serious with him. Her only decision is to go and work with her father, Engstrand, who wants to start a sailor's safe haven. Oswald's dreams are crushed when he discovers this news. He wants Regina to grow old with him and to take care of him because he is suffering from syphilis. He felt he could trust Regina to give him morphine capsules if he loses his mind and never returns to a normal state. Mrs. Alving, his own mother, is now forced to decide to take the life of her son. This is the final and strongest example of the antagonist having complete control over the protagonist.

Pator Manders is also controlled by his concern for his public opinion. The critic John Gassner explains the character of Manders well, by saying

Ibsen shows him [Manders] to be such a fool at times that one cannot even hate him; he is so gullible and so ignorant of life that we can only agree with Mrs. Alving in the play when she calls him a big baby. Yet the results of his conventionality are so dreadful as to make him moral thinking immoral. In adhering to this rigid code, Pastor Manders forced Mrs. Alving to return to an incurably unfaithful husband. (ix)

His obsession with looking good to the society tricks him into funding Engstrand's sailor's saloon. The pastor is completely involved with himself and is constantly worried about how his image is projected in society. The critic Ben Lytal feels that when he tells Mrs. Alving that she must go back to her duty as a wife it is unclear if he is "motivated by a pure sense of moral duty or by a deference to public opinion, because for him they are essentially the same" (4), and that Manders is "ruled by a neurotic concern for public opinion" (4). He is yet another victim to society.

While some characters in "Ghosts" are in the position to be pure victims of society, others are able to use the flaws of the society around them to their advantage. Engstrand is able to do just that. He is able to use the deceit and dishonesty that thrive in his society to serve his needs. Engstrand is able to use the lies surrounding Mr. Alving's life to be able to gain the funds necessary for the establighment of a Seaman's Refuge. Engstrand is able to challenge his obligation and honesty by lying to Pastor Manders and keeping up the appearance of a remorseful soul and being truly repentant for his sins. Engstrand's story shows a level of corruptness that existed in the society in "Ghosts" (Bites ).

For "Ghosts" to be a tragedy the life of the hero had to have changed drastically. Mrs. Alving's life was certainly changed. After the orphanage burnt down she was no longer able to hide the truth. Regina and Oswald found out and their lives were changed drastically also. Regina went off to work at Engstrand's high class brothel and the truth about Oswald was let out. Mr. Alving still affected the family even after his orphanage was gone. Syphilis was passed to Oswald by his father and his it could affect his mind at any time. As the sun rises, the final tragic blow is dealt to Mrs. Alving. Oswald has become lifeless on account of the syphilis and now she must pull together the courage to commit euthanasia on her son. The heavy tragedy is felt when the mother is screaming, "I can't bear it! Never! Where has he got it? Here! No, no, no! Yes! no, no!" debating whether to put her son to death or not, and all he utters is a helpless, "The sun. the sun" (Ibsen 18).

The effects of society influence different characters in "Ghosts" in a spectrum of different ways. The society in "Ghosts" caused the play's characters to change their ways to fit a stereotype. They forfeited their individuality to society so they could be more accepted by the members in that society. Those who were chained down by society were easily defeated by it. They were the ones whose lives were ruined by the end of the play. Others could break the bonds society put on the characters and use society's cruelty to their advantage. In life, everyone conforms to society in one form or another. That's our way of feeling accepted. The characters in "Ghosts" showed how far things could go if society had control over every aspect of our lives. Society is a strong force that can have effects on people in different ways. Henrik Ibsen displayed his knowledge of the power of society in the tragic drama, "Ghosts."

Works Cited

Beyer, Edward. Ibsen The Man and His Work. Trans. Marie Wells. New York Taplinger, 178.

Bites, Jessi. "Effects of Society on the Characters in 'Ghosts'." Unpublished paper. 00.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Bloom's Major Dramatists Henrik Ibsen. Broomall Chelsea House Publishers, 000.

Fergusson, Francis. " 'Ghosts' The Tragic Rhythm in a Small Figure." Ibsen A Collection of Critical Essays. New York Prentice-Hall, 165. Rpt. in Modern Critical Views Henrick Ibsen. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia Chelsea House Publishers, 1.

Gassner, John. Introduction to This Edition. Four Great Plays by Ibsen. Trans. R. Sharp. New York Bantam, 15. vii-xiii.

Ibsen, Henrik. "Ghosts." Four Great Plays by Ibsen. Trans. R. Sharp. New York Bantam, 15. 6-18.

Lytal, Ben. SparkNote on Ghosts. 0 April 00. http//www.sparknotes.com/lit/ghosts

Meyer, Michael. Ibsen. New York Doubleday & Company, Inc., 171.

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