Overview and Directions: Please finish reading Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. Taking into account the plot points, please comment on the significance of these events in the play, as well as Ibsen's purpose in addressing the audience's reactions to Nora's exit in A Doll House. Think about the following plot points as you compose your response: Who really burned down the orphanage? How does the insurance come into play? What do we learn about Engstrand? Can you see a modern day equivalent to him? Why is he so dangerous? What is the name for the sailor's home? What is Regina's reaction to learning her parentage? What is Oswald's true reason for wanting to be with Regina? Why did Oswald really return? What does Ibsen mean by the line "softening of the brain" and "Mother? Give me the sun." How is the final moment an indictment on the audience who felt that Nora has a duty to her family? I look forward to your responses.
Quotations
1. And the refuge for wandering mariners shall be called "Chamberlain Alving's Home,” that it shall! And if so be as I'm spared to carry on that house in my own way, I make so bold as to promise that it shall be worthy of the Chamberlain's memory.
2. Well then, child of joy as he was--for he was like a child in those days--he had to live at home here in a half-grown town, which had no joys to offer him--only dissipation. He had no object in life--only an official position. He had no work into which he could throw himself heart and soul; he had only business. He had not a single comrade that could realize what the joy of life meant--only loungers and boon companions - Your poor father found no outlet for the overpowering joy of life that was in him. And I brought no brightness into his home.
3. Yes, but she was one of that sort, all the same. Oh, I've often suspected it; but--And now, if you please, ma'am, may I be allowed to go away at once? A poor girl must make the best of her young days, or she'll be left out in the cold before she knows where she is. And I, too, have the joy of life in me, Mrs. Alving!
4. Everything you point to you shall have, just as when you were a little child.--There now. The crisis
is over. You see how easily it passed! Oh, I was sure it would.--And do you see, Oswald, what a lovely day we are going to have? Brilliant sunshine! Now you can really see your home. [She goes to the table and puts out the lamp. Sunrise. The glacier and the snow-peaks in the background glow in the morning light.]
5. [Sits motionless as before and says.] The sun.--The sun.
Engstrand wishes to open a high-class brothel for seamen and he wants his daughter to be there. In order to gain enough funding, he manipulates Pastor Manders by starting a fire at the orphanage and making it seem like it was the Pastor's fault. Then, by offering to take that blame, he can gain the Pastor’s good side and coax him into funding for his seamen’s bar. In addition to this incident, Engstrand also lies and on multiple occasions acts to please the Pastor. He is a man with no morals and would do everything to satisfy his greed and wants. To make matters worse, he is good at finding and manipulating each person’s weaknesses. He is similar to Krogstad in A Doll's House in that they both have questionable morality.
ReplyDeleteSailor’s home is named the “Alving’s home” that is “worthy of bearing the late Mr. Alving's name.” Only Mrs. Alving understands the double meaning behind this line because she has been hiding her husband’s rotten reputation for years.
Regina was furious when she learned of her parentage and immediately departs. However, her reactions are not unpredictable. Throughout the play, she is trying her best to elevate her social status and display her education by speaking a little French or admiring the Pastor who has a higher social status than her. She is more interested in Mr. Alving’s social status rather than him as an individual. Oswald, on the other hand, loves her due to her light-heartedness. He returns to his home because of his hereditary illness passed down by his father and he hopes to find someone who would obey and give him the “last helping hand.” Regina will gladly give him the morphine and obey his orders due to his high social status. Regina is the perfect choice for Oswald.
Oswald describes the end result of his illness as a "softening of the brain" which will turn him into a baby who needs constant care. Ibsen likely means that Oswald will develop lunacy and become non-functioning. When his mother hears the phrase “give me the sun” she fears that he is already on the path to madness.
In the play, the sunlight has been a representation of truth and joy. Ibsen may mean that Oswald is asking for all truth to be revealed and begging the joy of his life to come back. Truth clears away the gloom, but it also brings the pain of living. Oswald is crushed under the weight of the truth like his father. Nora faces the choice between keeping her promise to her son and reinforcing her duty as a caregiver; by keeping him alive.
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ReplyDeletePastor Manders is just such a gullible person, and it is clear that through him, Ibsen is criticizing those on the right side of the political spectrum who hated “A Doll House.” He is so blinded by his need to keep up appearances that he does not think anything through logically. In Act 1, he was against insuring the orphanage because he was afraid that people would think he does not have enough faith in God. Then later in Act II, we see that hint play out when the orphanage burns down. By doing this, Ibsen is showing that in the end, nothing good comes out of doing things only to look good. When we worry about what other people think of us, more often than not we make an unwise decision.
ReplyDeleteEngstrand was the one who really burned down the orphanage, but he blames the fallen prayer candle which makes Manders think that he was the one who burned it down. So then Engstrand manipulatively says he will take the blame for the fire, and in return for his good deed, he asks Manders to give him money for his sailor’s home. Here, we see Engstrand’s cunning personality in true form. He knows that Manders’ priority is keeping up appearances, so he makes this offer that seems very appealing to Manders. Once again, Ibsen is showing that when one’s primary focus is appearances, even a pastor can agree to sponsor a house of prostitution. Engstrand chooses to name the sailor’s home Captain Alving’s Home, which is ironic because Captain Alving himself slept with another woman who became Regina’s mother.
Oswald suffers from syphilis, a disease passed by sexual contact that he most likely inherited from his father. And because of this inherited trait, Oswald is constantly depressed and in pain. All her life, Mrs. Alving did everything in her power to prevent her son from becoming like Captain Alving and knowing about what he did. Even though her husband committed adultery, she remained silent and sent Oswald away for his sake. This ghost of duty to family is one of the most prevalent ghosts in the play. People criticized “A Doll House” for portraying a woman abandoning her family, so this time, Ibsen gives the people what they want, but then shows them what happens when a woman does stay with her family despite being cheated on. Ultimately, Mrs. Alving is basically asked by her ill son to administer an overdose of morphine because he no longer wants to live with all his pain. In her mind, she did the best she could for Oswald, but he only feels resentment towards her for ruining his life.
It was a silly blunder that brought about the burning of the orphanage. Jacob Engstrand saw how “‘your Reverence took the candle and snuffed it with your fingers, and threw away the snuff among the shavings.’” It was the Pastor, who was the individual who convinced Mrs. Alving that no insurance ought to be taken out, who was at fault. Irony runs deep in this situation. It is Engstrand who is the bystander, Engstrand who sees all but does nothing, the man who is truly the most dangerous. When the conversation continues, Engstrand continues to incite chaos, and tells the Pastor that “‘to think that such a thing should happen to a benevolent Institution, that was to have been a blessing both to town and country, as the saying goes! The newspapers won't be for handling your Reverence very gently, I expect.’” By inciting Paster Manders into a state of worry and panic, Engstrand can capitalize, securing his blessing to construct his brothel. Engstrand knew that the Pastor was concentred about public perception, and the idea that he took advantage of him, in a bad condition, to seek personal gain. Fittingly, the new sailors’ house will be named ‘Chamberlain Alving’s Home,’ to pay homage in a humorous way to the Captain’s sexual escapades. However, it appears as if this news didn’t really upset Engstrand, for he managed to come out ahead because of the situation.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Alving is left in a precarious position, but could care less about the financial state of Paster Manders, who appears to foot the bill himself, selling off other church properties to pay for the fiasco. Mrs. Alving notes that “‘it is all for the best. That Orphanage would have done no one any good.’” Since the Orphanage was merely a building erected to convey a false image of the late Captain, it was rooted in lies and it seemed that there was no overwhelming need for such institution. After Mrs. Alving reveals the secret of Regina’s parentage, Regina is dismayed, but Mrs. Alving conforts her, telling Regina that “‘Your mother had many good qualities.’” This is certainly unexpected from Mrs. Alving, who consistently criticized her spouse and sought to destroy the memory of him.
The ending of the play is poignant, for it concluded with the death of Oswald. Henrik Ibsen’s contemporaries would have been convinced by the play that a household in which there is no stability, no bond between the parents would result in a broken child. Even though Oswald’s disease, syphilis, wasn’t treatable, he still could have spent his remaining days with his dear mother, but he tells her that “’I never asked you for life. And what sort of a life have you given me? I will not have it! You shall take it back again!’” Oswald has no desire to live, but his mother is unable to make the decision to allowed herself to give him the pills. This final part of the play would see Mrs. Alving torn, for everyone what had surrounded her throughout the play had left her alone, and she had only her son left. He too, wanted out.
Act III rips off the facades and escalates long held secrets as confessions are let out. These concern the true culprit who burned down the Orphanage, Engstrand’s deep-setted traits, Oswald’s realization of his familial past, and true reason he wanted Regina by his side.
ReplyDeleteFrom Act III, it can be discerned that Pastor Manders accidentally burned down the orphanage as observed by Engstrand:
“MANDERS. [Stops.] So you declare. But I certainly cannot recollect that I ever had a candle in my hand.
ENGSTRAND. And I saw as clear as daylight how your Reverence took the candle and snuffed it with your fingers, and threw away the snuff among the shavings.
MANDERS. And you stood and looked on?
ENGSTRAND. Yes; I saw it as plain as a pike-staff, I did.”
Additionally, the character of Engstrand seems to know more than he lets on. From the opening act, I characterized him as greedy and self-motivated but his character progresses more after he is forced to confess to the pastor in Act II and the result of this is exhibited in Act III after he points out the imperfections within society, as represented by the pastor, that force him to resort to less than idea tactics. Mrs. Alving finally tells Oswald about his father without properly revealing the truth and sugar coats it. This is representative of how the “truth” has many layers to it and Mrs. Alving has deep rooted biases and “ghosts” that she cannot get rid of despite her conversations with Pastor Manders.
Regina’s attitude and retorts towards Mrs. Alving’s confession were surprising. She insinuates that she would rather be a prostitute than live in their care after finding out her relations to Oswald as his step sister.
“MRS. ALVING. And if you ever need a home, Regina, come to me.
REGINA. No, thank you, ma'am. Pastor Manders will look after me, I know. And if the worst comes to the worst, I know of one house where I've every right to a place.
MRS. ALVING. Where is that?
REGINA. "Chamberlain Alving's Home."
MRS. ALVING. Regina—now I see it—you are going to your ruin.”
Additionally, Oswald does not take the news in the best way either and after Regina takes her leave, he tells his mother his true intentions with her:
“OSWALD. I demanded it of him. I told him I had preparations to make—[He smiles cunningly.] And so I had. [He takes a little box from his inner breast pocket and opens it.] Mother, do you see this?
MRS. ALVING. What is it?
OSWALD. Morphia.
MRS. ALVING. [Looks at him horror-struck.] Oswald—my boy!
OSWALD. I've scraped together twelve pilules—
MRS. ALVING. [Snatches at it.] Give me the box, Oswald.
OSWALD. Not yet, mother. [He hides the box again in his pocket.]
MRS. ALVING. I shall never survive this!
OSWALD. It must be survived. Now if I'd had Regina here, I should have told her how things stood with me—and begged her to come to the rescue at the last. She would have done it. I know she would.”
He fears that his illness will turn him into a vegetable like state so he wants his mother to ease him out of his pain and put him to death, a morbid ending to a morbid family affair.
In the Third and final act of Ghosts, a very bleak and dreary ending unfolds as all hopes of a happy ending seem to come crashing down quite abruptly for nearly all of the main characters. First we have that whole ordeal with Engstrand quite carelessly setting an entire orphanage on fire and then using his skills of manipulation to make it seem like it was all Pastor Manders fault. In the scope of our satirical short story this is a terrible deed but just imagine if this happened in real life? It’s just really messed up; but then again I guess that’s how Ibsen wanted us to react and wanted us to feel when this scene took place. Also I guess it all comes back to Pastor Manders not insuring the orphanage for the sake of his holy reputation too!
ReplyDeleteI actually believe that one of the biggest turning points in this act was when Regina found out the truth about her birth father bing Mr. Alving and what she decided to do after that. She stated, “No, that I can't. A poor girl must make the best of her young days, or she'll be left out in the cold before she knows where she is. And I, too, have the joy of life in me, Mrs. Alving!”. It is quite interesting because I can definitely see some parallels between her and Nora from “A Doll House” in the way in which they responded to breaking news. When Nora found out that she had no future with Torvald and was not loved by him she knew she needed to leave and make her own way in the world. Regina also felt that she needed to leave and “have the joy of life in me” after finding out that Oswald is sick and her half brother yet for quite different reasons. You see, it is not that Oswald does not love her because he seems to respect her and love her and he is also quite wealthy. It is that he can not provide a step up in the staircase of the social classes because he will likely die shortly after their marriage and she will end up like Mrs. Alving who still has to be pushed around by the older and more powerful men in her life. Instead she abruptly leaves and even considers working at her ‘father’s’ brothel. Also her decision is a big turning point because if Regina had decided to stay with Oswald Mrs. Alving never would have been so catastrophically devastated over her son’s wish to kill him if he were to become catatonic and the ending may have turned out differently.
Act three is by far my favorite part of the play. I love irony, and Ibsen lets the irony fly in act three. By far my favorite part is the naming of the sailor’s house. By putting mr alving’s name on the building, Egstrand is established as the symbol of truth, while mrs alving is established as the symbol of lies. Even though we know that mrs alving is a good person in comparison to egstrand, egstrand is more truthful. This is meant to spit directly in the face of the public idea of a good person. One of the most important cornerstones to our society is the importance of the truth. In most western societies, truthful people are often called good people. With this in mind, Ibsen takes advantage of this conception with the characters of mrs alving and egstrand. It is quickly established that egstrand is a bad person, and that mrs alving is a good person. However, it is later revealed that their tendencies towards the truth do not align with their moral compasses. This is why Ibsen is so good. He purposefully spits in the face of societies misconceptions.
ReplyDeleteIn a weird way you kind of have to admire Engstrand because he is relentless and everything he wants he gets. Despite being a villainous character who I do not like one bit, he is the only character in the play who ends up happy at the end of the play which is something that must be respected. Engstrand played Pastor Manders like a fiddle and should be given an academy award for his acting skills, playing the remorseful sinner for the entire play. He is incredibly manipulative, turning the burning down of the orphanage on to Pastor Manders even though he was the one who actually turned it down. His manipulative skills did not stop there because he convinced Manders to allow him to take the fall for it so that it would save Manders reputation and from there on out Manders would owe him which is exactly what Engstrand wanted because that meant Manders would be willing to help him in the sailors home in anyway possible. My favorite part of the play was when the sailor’s home became named after Captain Alving because of the dramatic irony. The orphanage that was built in Captain Alving’s honor was a falsified remembrance of him because it did not represent who he was when he was alive. Captain was not someone who cared much for others, instead he was incredibly selfish having intimate relations with plenty of women that were not his wife in front of his wife which is why the sailor’s home is more fitting. The fact that the orphanage burned down demonstrates that no matter how hard someone tried to put up a facade, the truth always comes out and in most cases, it’ll burn anything and everything in its path, destroying all the relations or ties that were made under that falsified identity.
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ReplyDeleteWhile Engstrand implies that the burning of the orphanage is entirely Pastor Manders’ fault, what appears to have happened is that Engstrand took advantage of Manders’ unwillingness to insure the orphanage and started the fire to blackmail him. Manders is extremely concerned with others’ opinions of him, and therefore is willing to meet Engstrand’s request for funding if he takes the blame for the “accident”. In doing this, Engstrand reveals himself as a greedy, manipulative, and cunning character who is willing to do whatever it takes for his personal gain. He even has the audacity to say he’s a guardian angel and compare himself to Jesus. He’s a dangerous character because not only does he have evil intentions, he appears to be pretty smart, too. There are a number of ingenious criminals out in the world that I’m sure he’d fit in nicely with.
DeleteWhen Ibsen uses the term “softening of the brain”, he is saying that Oswald will go into a vegetative state. When Oswald says “give me the sun”, he is asking his mother to kill him to put him out of his misery by overdosing.