Ghosts Study Guide

Horror fans will be disappointed to learn that there are no spectral figures commonly identified as ghosts in
Henrik Ibsen’s ground breaking stage drama Ghosts. The “ghosts” of the title are metaphorical, referring to
outdated traditions and the lingering strains of the sins of the father that continue to “infect” their offspring. Ibsen
actually didn’t like the translation of “ghosts,” chosen by the first English translation William Archer, for the
Danish word more accurately translates as “things that walk again.” However, that longer translation—along with
the proposed alternative “The Revenants”—was ungainly and were thus not used.

Ibsen penned the play in 1881 while living in Rome. No Scandinavian theatre would stage it, so it
premiered at the Aurora Turner Hall in Chicago, Illinois on May 20th, 1882. Over the next several years it opened
in Sweden, Berlin, Denmark, Norway, London, and New York. Famously, the King of Sweden saw it and told
Ibsen it was not good, to which the playwright replied, exasperated, “Your Majesty, I had to write Ghosts!”

When audiences attended the 1882 premiere, they were shocked to hear the characters openly discussing
topics that had also existed only as “ghosts”: incest, euthanasia, and venereal disease. All had been incorporated
into drama before Ghosts, but none had taken centre stage as the topic of discourse. The audience may have been
shocked, but many were prepared to follow Ibsen on his journey of discovery. Of course, many others were
prepared to follow the theatre critics who accused him of overstepping the boundaries of taste and decorum. In
Bernard Shaw’s book The Quintessence of Ibsenism, he compiles selections from the criticisms of the play when it
premiered. Some of the most notable adjectives used to describe it include the following: noisome, melancholy,
malodorous, disgusting, offensive, putrid, gross, repulsive, blasphemous, and dismal.

Ghosts is significant in Ibsen’s development from crafting traditional, realistic drama to situating himself at
the vanguard of expressionist theatre. Ghosts and its follow-up, An Enemy of the People, would draw the curtain
on the playwright’s realist period before moving into more symbolic experimentation with The Wild Duck and
Hedda Gabler. Many critics also see Ghosts as a follow-up to A Doll’s House.

In 1906, not long after Ibsen’s death, Edvard Munch agreed to design the set for a new staging of Ghosts in
Berlin. He used Biedermeier furniture and sickly yellow walls, stating, “I wanted to stress the responsibility of the
parents, but it was my life too—my 'why'? I came into the world sick, in sick surroundings, to whom youth was a
sickroom and life a shiny, sunlit window—with glorious colours and glorious joys—and out there I wanted so
much to take part in the dance, the Dance of Life.”

The play has been revived numerous times in the century or so since its premiere. Most recently, it was
staged in China in 2014.
 Ghosts Character List
Mrs. Helene Alving :
Helene Alving is the wealthy widow of Chamberlain "Captain" Alving. She is about to open a memorial to
her dead husband—an orphanage—and is pleased that their son, Osvald, is back from Paris. She considers herself
to be forward-thinking and she reads many progressive books; however, when faced with complicated moral
decisions, she still exhibits a more conservative perspective. She despises her late husband for his decadence and
debauchery; she actually loved Pastor Manders once, but she agreed to do her duty in her marriage and try to keep
Alving's reputation from the masses. She is forced to tell the truth about her husband when Osvald thinks his
syphilis is his own fault when, in reality, it is inherited. At the end of the play, it is unclear if she will choose to
assist her son in his death.

Pastor Manders :
A local religious figure, Pastor Manders is concerned with his reputation and the morality of his
parishioners. He does not approve of the supposedly immoral behavior of Osvald in Paris, nor of Mrs. Alving's
progressive reading. He once loved Mrs. Alving, but he prides himself on his ability to turn her away and send her
back to her husband. At the time of the play, he is helping her to conduct the business affairs of the orphanage, but
he becomes privy to her confessions about how terrible Alving actually was and what the true relationship
between Osvald and Regina is. At the end of the play, Engstrand rigs it so that it seems like Manders caused the
fire at the orphanage; in order to preserve his reputation (and because he is so gullible), he falls for Engstrand's
gesture to take the blame if Manders will support his plan for a seamen's home.

Osvald Alving :
The son of Captain and Mrs. Alving—and, as it is revealed, Regina's half-brother. Osvald is a painter in
Paris, where he delights in "the joy of life." However, he has been sick and cannot work, and, now back in
Norway, he tells his mother that the doctor said he has been "worm-eaten" since birth. He decides that it was his
own lifestyle that caused this, but eventually, Mrs. Alving tells him the truth about his father, whom he once saw
as a paragon of perfection. Osvald does not want to live in a vegetative state and had planned to have Regina take
care of him when the time came, but he turns to his mother at the end of the play to give him morphine tablets. As
the sun comes up, Osvald's brain breaks and he begins to slip away. He is last seen muttering "the sun" over and
over again.

Regina Engstrand :
Mrs. Alving's maid. Regina is Jakob Engstrand’s (adopted) daughter. She takes great pride in working for
the Alvings. She has feelings for Osvald, though it may simply be that she is attracted to the family's wealth. As
soon as she learns the truth about who she is—Captain Alving's biological daughter and thus Osvald's half-sister—
she leaves the Alving household in disgust and annoyance.

Jakob Engstrand :
An alcoholic carpenter who is skillful at manipulating others. He plans to open a brothel for seamen and
wants Regina, his daughter (though technically not his daughter, as he married Regina's mother when she was
already pregnant by Captain Alving) to come work there. He manipulates Pastor Manders by starting a fire at the
orphanage and making it seem like it was the Pastor's fault, then offering to take that blame if the Pastor will help
him out with the seamen's "home."

Captain Alving (unseen character):

Mrs. Alving's husband, who died ten years before the play starts. He was a debauched, dissolute, and
selfish man who carried on torrid affairs with other women. He contracted syphilis and eventually died. Mrs.
Alving had done a skillful job of preserving the secrets of his behavior, however, so when he died, he was viewed
as a pillar of the community.
 Ghosts Overall Summary
The play is set in late-19th-century Norway in the wealthy household of the Alvings. Jakob Engstrand, a
ne'er-do-well carpenter, arrives at the garden room wanting to speak with Regina, his daughter, who works as a
maid for the Alvings. She is not at all happy to see her father, whom she regards as dissolute and a drunk.

Engstrand has been working on the “Captain Alving Memorial,” an orphanage/asylum that is opening the
next day. Now that this project is done, he tells Regina his plans to open a home for seamen, insinuating that it
would be a brothel but a very good one. He suggests his daughter should come with him and work there, assuring
her that she will be well off; she’s gotten too hoity-toity here at the Alvings’. Regina is disgusted and orders him
away. She doesn’t want to leave and she doesn’t think it is appropriate to keep house for him. She also thinks he
needs to leave because Pastor Manders will be here any minute. Engstrand consents to go, but he tells her to listen
if the Pastor gives her any advice.
Pastor Manders greets Regina and they exchange pleasantries. He compliments her on how she’s grown up
and suggests that she ought to go with her father. She insists that she wants a respectable position, and she asks
him to keep her in mind if he hears anything. She fetches Mrs. Alving.

Manders greets the lady of the house. They discuss tomorrow’s opening of the orphanage, which was built
with her late husband’s funds and intended to honor his memory. They also discuss Osvald, her son, who is
upstairs resting now that he is home from Paris, where he works as an artist.

Manders is disturbed to find progressive and ungodly books in Mrs. Alving’s house, and she shrugs that
she began looking for the truth due to the events of her early marriage. She did her duty and married Captain
Alving, but he was a debauched man and she left him. She went to Manders for comfort; though the two of them
loved each other, Manders did his duty and sent her back to her husband.

The conversation returns to the topic at hand, which is the memorial. Manders has been doing the business
side of it and plans to give a speech at its opening tomorrow. He pressures Mrs. Alving not to ensure the building
since it would seem to demonstrate a lack of faith in Providence. Mrs. Alving agrees, though she thinks it’s a bit
foolish since Engstrand accidentally started a small fire there the previous day. Manders defends Engstrand as
trying to get his life together and says that Regina ought to go with him, but Mrs. Alving vociferously refuses to
let Regina go.

Osvald comes downstairs. He is wan, handsome, and smoking a pipe. Mrs. Alving asks him to put it out
and he acquiesces, saying he only wanted to try it because he has a memory of his father forcing him to smoke as a
child until he threw up. Disconcerted, [Link] insists that his father was a perfect man. Indeed, that is how he
was known in the town.

Manders finds Osvald’s stories of his time with fellow artists in Paris and his views on “the joy of life” and
couples living together without getting married distasteful. After Osvald leaves, Manders excoriates Mrs. Alving
for letting her son grow up like this, and he exhorts her to try to save him from his misguided views.

Mrs. Alving lets him lecture her, but when he concludes, she states firmly that she has to speak to him as
well. She tells him frankly that everything he thinks about Captain Alving is false: her husband was never
reformed and died just as dissolutely as he lived. He was charming and fooled people, but he did what he wanted.
Once he seduced their maid—Regina’s mother—in their own home, she decided that enough was enough and she
sent the woman, now with child, away. Regina’s mother revived an old relationship with Engstrand and Mrs.
Alving gave her money to entice him. She had the baby, and later, Regina came to live in the Alving home.

Mrs. Alving rues that she endured so much and did everything she could to prevent the truth from coming
out. She took care of Alving until he died, diverted all his money to the fund for the orphanage, and raised her own
money for her and Osvald to live on. As soon as the memorial opens, she sighs, they will be free.

Manders is utterly stunned and says they will do their best to prevent scandal. Suddenly, the two of them
hear Regina and Osvald together in the next room; Mrs. Alving gasps that it is the ghosts.

When the second act opens, Pastor Manders and Mrs. Alving discuss what to do. They agree Regina must
be sent away, since Regina and Osvald cannot begin to carry on just as his father did. Mrs. Alving wishes there
were an easy solution and would even seem to condone incest if they could just live happily and no one would
know, but Manders rebukes her. Mrs. Alving speaks of how there are ghosts of the past everywhere.
 Engstrand shows up, asking if Manders might give an evening prayer tonight at the memorial. Manders
agrees, but he pressures Engstrand into admitting what he did in regard to marrying Regina’s mother. Manders is
critical of him for being bought to marry a fallen woman, but Engstrand reframes this as him being a good
Christian and helping a fallen woman. He promises that he did not take the money. Manders is convinced and
apologies.

After Manders and Engstrand leave, Osvald approaches his mother and says he must tell her something. He
explains that he is not tired from any ordinary illness: rather, his mind is broken and he cannot work. He went to a
doctor who told him he’d been sick since birth with a hereditary illness. Osvald reacted poorly because he believed
his father to be a great man, and he decided he must have contracted the disease because of the freeway he lived in
Paris. He bemoans the fact that he is ruined and getting worse, and he is full of a sense of dread. He tells his
mother that he must go away and that Regina is his salvation.

All of this stuns and horrifies his mother, who begs him to stay with her and to not think of Regina that
way. Pastor Manders enters the room just as Mrs. Alving is about to tell Osvald and Regina the truth, but they
notice flames off in the distance and realize that the orphanage is burning.

In Act Three, the orphanage has completely burned down. Mrs. Alving is weary of the whole matter and
tells Pastor Manders to settle it; she wants nothing more to do with it. He is dismayed about the whole matter,
especially when Engstrand arrives and suggests that it is the Pastor’s fault and that everyone will disparage him.
He insinuates that he would be willing to take the blame if the Pastor would help him finance the seamen’s home.
The Pastor gratefully agrees, and both leave.

Osvald returns from the wreckage of the fire, fitful and upset. He claims that everything of Father’s
memory will burn. Mrs. Alving finally tells him the truth that he has to stop blaming himself: it was his father who
lived a terrible life and passed this disease onto him, and it was her fault for not making a better house for him.
She also tells Regina the truth about who she is.

Regina immediately wants to leave. She is critical that she was not raised as a gentleman’s daughter and
that she wants no more of them. Mrs. Alving sadly says that she will come to ruin. Regina leaves in a huff, saying
that the Pastor will take care of her, or else she has a home—her father’s brothel—where she will do just fine.

Mrs. Alving promises to take care of Osvald and to be calm and patient with him. He asks if she would
really do anything for him; when she answers "Of course," he explains that he’s already had one breakdown and is
due for another. When this happens, he will be completely vegetative, like a child again. This repulses him, so he
has gathered morphine pills. He hoped that Regina would take care of this if it came to it, but now the only one on
whom he can rely is his mother.

Mrs. Alving cannot fathom this at all, but she shakily agrees, thinking it will never be possible.

After days of unceasing rain, the sun is beginning to come up. Osvald asks to see the sun, but something
has happened and his tone is dull and lifeless. To her horror, Mrs. Alving realizes that his mind is gone. She
clutches the pills, wondering what to do.
 Ghosts Summary of Act One
The setting is in Norway in a spacious garden room on a rainy day. Regina, the maid, is warning Engstrand
not to come in any further for fear of getting water in the room. She does not want to be seen talking to him even
though he is her father, but he insists. Engstrand says he knows he has fallen prey to the wiles of drink before, but
tomorrow, at the dedication of the orphan asylum, he will not do so. Pastor Manders will be in town, and
Engstrand won’t give him or anyone else cause to speak ill of him.

Regina wonders what he’s trying to trick Manders into, which Engstrand scoffs at. He does explain,
though, that he is going home and wants Regina to come with him and keep house for him. She knows she is better
than that because she has been brought up by Mrs. Alving, a chamberlain’s wife. Engstrand curses her and mutters
that her mother always thought she was also so important on account of being part of the Chamberlain’s household
as a maid.

Regina bitterly retorts that he drove her mother to her death. After a moment, she asks why he even wants
her to come with him. Engstrand tries to give her piffle about wanting his daughter, and he begins to explain his
plan: he wants to open a very nice place for seamen in the town—the good ones like mates and captains—and
having his daughter around would be good because there have to be women around for entertainment and
companionship. Besides, he adds, nothing will come of Regina here: working in the orphanage when it opens is
useless.

Engstrand asks if she will come and she refuses to do so, even when he suggests that she might luck out
and find a nice captain to marry. Regina doesn’t want to marry one, but he says that just being with one might pay
off as well. She lunges at him to push him out, telling him not to wake young Mr. Alving or to let Pastor Manders
see him. Engstrand turns to leave, but he tells her to talk to the Pastor; he’ll set her straight in regard to her duty
towards her father.
After he is gone, Regina straightens herself up before Pastor Manders enters. They exchange pleasantries
and talk about the weather. Talk then turns to the orphanage being opened tomorrow and Osvald Alving being
home.
The Pastor settles himself down and compliments Regina on how she has “grown” since he last saw her, which she
corrects to “filled out"; yes, she shrugs, she has. He asks about her father and states that he does not have a very
strong personality and needs a guiding hand. He suggests that her duty might be to him, but she says she can never
leave Mrs. Alving, and she doesn’t think it’s appropriate for her to tend house for a single man, even if he is her
father. She asks if the Pastor has any situation, he might know of for her. He demurs and asks for Mrs. Alving.

Mrs. Alving enters the room and they greet each other. She wants to get right down to business, but they
talk for a few moments about how thrilled she is that Osvald is home from Paris and still seems to have “a place in
his heart for his mother”.

Manders takes a sheaf of papers out of his bag in preparation, and he asks Mrs. Alving about the books he
noticed in her room. He is surprised she reads this sort of thing; she says simply that she does, and that she has no
problem confronting things others don’t want to. She thinks it’s silly for him to condemn books he’s never read.
He thinks that there is fascination, yes, but that one must rely on the opinions of others sometimes and conclude
that they are wrong ideas. He tries to counsel her that she has to be wary of sharing ideas, especially since she is
opening this children’s home.

They turn to the deeds now. Manders reads off the properties and titles, saying that he chose “Captain”
instead of “Chamberlain” for the “Captain Alving Memorial” home. He asks her if they should be insured and she
says yes, of course, but he stops her and asks her to reconsider. He says that the Memorial is consecrated to a
higher purpose and that ensuring the buildings suggests that they do not have faith in God. It also might damage
the Pastor’s reputation in town.

Mrs. Alving agrees, even though not ensuring the buildings mean that nothing could be done if something
happened to the property. Manders is assured that they have luck on their side and are making the right choice.

Mrs. Alving does muse that it’s a bit interesting he’s brought this up: there was a small fire yesterday in the
carpenter’s shop where Engstrand works. He is careless with matches, she comments. Manders admits that
Engstrand has a lot on his mind, but he is confident that Engstrand is committed to now leading an irreproachable
life. He tells Mrs. Alving of how vulnerable and humble Engstrand seemed when he came to him asking for
Regina to live with him. At this, Mrs. Alving starts and says there is no way Regina will go with him. She
absolutely refuses to send the girl.

A moment later, her face lights up because Osvald is coming downstairs. He enters, wearing a light
overcoat and smoking a pipe. He greets the Pastor. Mrs. Alving ruefully remembers the Pastor saying Osvald
shouldn’t be a painter because they live licentious lives, and Manders protests that not all [Link]. Alving is proud
of her son, and Manders admits that he has read a lot of good press about Osvald in the papers, at least until
recently because there isn’t much anymore. Osvald says he has not been painting as much.

Manders says Osvald looks so much like his father. Mrs. Alving doesn’t really agree. She turns to her son
and asks him to put his pipe out. He agrees immediately and says that he only smoked it because he did it once as a
child: his father forced him to until he coughed and got sick. Mrs. Alving doesn’t remember that. Osvald wonders
if his father always played jokes like that, and the Pastor replies that “as a young man he was so full of the joy of
life” (81). Osvald remarks on how much his father accomplished.

Osvald says goodbye to the two adults, and Mrs. Alving beams at him, happy he is home indefinitely.
Before he exits, the Pastor wonders if he went out in the world a little too early. Osvald actually agrees with him
that a home is the right place for a child to be, but he startles the Pastor when he says that he saw perfectly
respectable homes among the artists even if they weren’t married. The Pastor is stunned and wonders how the
authorities tolerated such blatant immorality, but Osvald shrugs that Manders doesn’t seem to understand how
much marriage costs, nor how abstaining from sex is [Link] continues, explaining that, ironically, he
saw real immorality when he saw so-called respectable husbands and fathers come down into the world of the
artists. They see these things firsthand, indulge in them, and then rail about them.

Osvald breaks off and says he is tired and will go for a walk now. He exits. Manders is surprised to hear
Mrs. Alving say she agrees with her son’s sentiments, and he calls her pitiable. He says he will speak to her not as
a business advisor, nor as an executor, but rather as a friend—as the same person who stood before her in her most
desperate hour. His counsel is that tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of her husband’s death and the unveiling of
the memorial, which he will speak at, but now he will speak to her. He asks if she remembers when she fled her
husband and came to him before she was barely married a year, how she refused to go back, and how she was not
doing her duty.
Mrs. Alving replies that he knows what Alving was like in those days—the debauched life he led. Manders
agrees that he knew of the rumors, but a wife is not the judge of a husband. Her job was to bear her husband’s
flaws, but instead, she cast away the cross and the weak and put her name and reputation, as well as others', at risk.
Mrs. Alving insinuates that it was just one other’s name and reputation that she risked: his. He grimly says
he is glad he had the necessary firmness to turn her away and back to her husband. He was the instrument of a
higher power and foretold that Alving would turn away from his errings and live blamelessly. That is what he
obviously did, Manders concludes; Alving was a pillar of his community and a benefactor in the district. Actually,
he adds, Mrs. Alving is the one who has failed. She has always had a rebellious spirit and was drawn to the
lawless. She did not want to be a wife, so she left her husband; it was hard to be a mother, so she sent her son
away and made him a stranger. Now Osvald is back and changed for the worse. There is still time to save him if
she hurries, Manders exhorts her.
Mrs. Alving calmly and measuredly responds that she wishes to speak to him now, adding bluntly that
everything he just said is wrong. He never set foot in their house because it was too sensitive, so it meant that he
never got to see anything. He is passing judgment without knowing anything, without knowing that “the truth is
that my husband died just as debauched as he lived his whole life”.

Utterly stunned, Manders fumbles for a chair. Mrs. Alving continues. Alving was just as debauched in his
proclivities, was dissipated according to the doctor. She thought he was getting better when they had Osvald, but
that did not last long. Alving fooled everyone with his charm, but not her. Her breaking point was when he started
carrying on with their own maid and had a child by her. Mrs. Alving had to endure so much: drunkenness, obscene
talk, and having to drink with him and drag him to bed. She endured it all until he starting acting like that in their
own house with their child nearby, at which point she sent Osvald away so his father wouldn’t influence him. The
only reasons she has survived is her work, which was all hers, in fact: Alving did nothing. She has felt haunted by
the idea that the truth would come out, so she has put all Alving’s money toward the orphanage and she and
Osvald will live on only her money.
Osvald comes back in, excited for dinner. At the same time, Regina says there is a package for Mrs.
[Link] and Mrs. Alving are standing together. He is trying to come to terms with what he’s heard and
knows there can’t be a scandal. She firmly agrees and says she wants to put Alving away for good. They both hear
Regina sharply whispering to Osvald to let her go. Mrs. Alving starts and whispers hoarsely that the ghosts from
the greenhouse are walking again. She leads Manders into the dining room.
Ghosts Summary of Act Two
After dinner, Osvald goes out for a bit and Mrs. Alving sends Regina down to the laundry room to help
with decorations. She and Manders discuss Osvald and Regina. She doesn’t think anything has happened yet, but
Regina must leave the house now. Manders suggests she go to her father’s, but realizes the truth: Engstrand isn’t
Regina’s father.

Mrs. Alving sighs and explains that Regina’s mother, Johanna, came to her, told her the truth, and Mrs.
Alving took care to cover it up. She gave Johanna $300; Johanna revived a relationship with Engstrand and lied to
him that it was some foreigner who got her pregnant. Manders is full of contempt for this sham marriage and for
Engstrand agreeing to marry a “fallen woman” for money.

Mrs. Alving asks him, vexed, if he thinks the same of her because she was only doing her duty and did not
want to be married, and says that he can’t think Alving was pure when they married. He doesn’t think it is the
same. She is a bit melancholy when she thinks of where her heart actually was and how she didn’t pay attention to
what she wanted. Manders maintains that her marriage was based on law and order and was, therefore, right.
She muses that she should have never covered up Alving’s behavior, that she was cowardly, and that she should
have told Osvald about his father. Manders is horrified and says that Osvald must honor his father and that she was
doing her duty.

The two disagree with each other. She scoffs that Osvald should know the truth, while he says there is
something to be said for not shattering ideals. Mrs. Alving wishes she hadn’t built his father up so much to Osvald,
but then she states that, right now, she has to think about how Osvald simply cannot fool around with [Link]
does muse, though, that it would be easy if the young people could just marry and be honest about it. This shocks
Manders, but Mrs. Alving says that she knows many people who are that closely related. Manders acknowledges
that family isn’t as pure as it should be.

Mrs. Alving admits she is terrified; the dead among them haunt her. When Manders asks what she means,
she says that when she heard Osvald and Regina, she heard “ghosts.” Ghosts are their parents and things like old
ideas and beliefs—things that didn’t exactly live inside them but are sitting around all the same. She sees ghosts
everywhere she turns.

Pastor Manders is exasperated by her comments and blames her progressive readings. He is stunned,
though, when she accuses him of being the one who was responsible for her doing her own thinking. When he sent
her back to her husband with numerous reasons, she looked into them and found them specious. She tugged on the
proverbial knot and the whole thing came undone.

He is saddened to hear this, and both realize they never understood each other. He makes her feel worse
when he says he never thought of her as anything but another man’s [Link] sadly changes the subject to Regina.
They decide she must go, and Manders reiterates that it must be to [Link] that moment, Engstrand himself
arrives, asking for a word with the Pastor. He begins by saying that, now that work is finishing up at the
orphanage, he thinks the Pastor should come by for a prayer tonight. He humbly says that he’s an ordinary man, or
else he’d do it himself.

Manders sharply asks about Engstrand’s conscience, which Engstrand waves off. Manders then pushes
Engstrand to admit the truth about Regina, which Engstrand does—with numerous protestations that he was doing
the right thing. He argues that it is a Christian’s job to lift the fallen, which was what he did for Johanna. It broke
his heart to hear her story, so he righteously married her. He never cared about the money, and it all went to the
child. He is sure that he has been a good father. He never said anything because he didn’t want to get any credit for
the good deed.

Pastor Manders is touched and humbled; he asks Engstrand for forgiveness for misjudging him. Engstrand
uses this opportunity to tell him about his plan for the seamen’s place in town, a place he claims will be free from
vice. Manders says he would love to hear more, but now is the time to light the candles for the prayer. Engstrand
thanks him, fakes a tear for Regina growing up so well thanks to Mrs. Alving, and [Link] is pleased with
Engstrand and remarks that one must be careful judging another. Mrs. Alving replies wryly that Manders is, and
always has been, a child, and she wishes she could hug him.A bit confused, Manders gathers his things to go. He
says he will return [Link] now, Mrs. Alving turns and, to her surprise, sees Osvald with a cigar and drink at
the table. She stammers that she thought he was going out. He shrugs that the weather is bad.
She invites him into the garden room, saying he can bring his cigar even if he doesn’t think he can. He is
restless, complaining about the weather and how he can’t work. He suddenly asks his mother if his being home
really makes her happy, saying she got along just fine without him. She assures him that she loves having him.

To her surprise and growing anxiousness, he tells her he must tell her something. He has been keeping it
for some time now, but now it must come out. His tiredness is not ordinary tiredness. He isn’t sick in the
traditional way: rather, his mind is sick and broken, and he will not work again. His eyes fill with pain as he says
this. Mrs. Alving intuits that he means he has syphilis; she asks how he got it, and he says he does not know. He
has not led too wild of a life, so he is surprised that this terrible thing has happened to him. She tries to comfort
him, and she urges him to tell her everything.

He explains that it started the last time he got to Paris. He had a piercing pain in his head and he thought it
was a normal headache, but he realized it was different. He couldn’t work anymore: his strength was paralyzed,
and he couldn’t concentrate. He saw the doctor and learned the truth. The doctor asked many questions that didn’t
seem pertinent and finally told him that he’d been “worm-eaten since birth”. When Osvald asked him to explain it,
the doctor said, “the sins of the father are visited on the children”. At this, Mrs. Alving slowly rises.

Osvald continues that he almost hit the man for impugning his father, then showed him all the letters where
his mother bragged of his father. Osvald felt better about that, but he ruled that he had lived his own life as he did.
The truth was that he should have been more careful and less irresponsible. He wrecked himself; he is the only one
to [Link] throws himself down mournfully, crying out that he wished his curse had been something he had
inherited instead of something he did to himself.

After a minute, he adds that he is so sorry to be upsetting his mother, and he can see that she loves him a
great deal. He begs her for a drink so he can drown out his thoughts. She acquiesces and pulls the [Link] the
meantime, he complains about the incessant rain and how he never sees the [Link] comes down and Mrs.
Alving tells her to bring them a half-bottle of champagne. Osvald weakly thanks his mother. She says she can
never deny him anything. His eyes light up and he asks if she really means that. His tone disconcerts her.

They drink a bit. Osvald asks his mother what she thinks of Regina, adding that he finds her magnificent.
Mrs. Alving hesitantly suggests that Regina has problems, but she is fond of her. Suddenly, Osvald jumps up and
says Regina is his only hope. He has to live a different way; he has to leave his mother. He cannot live with this
dread all the [Link]. Alving is worried and confused. Osvald barrels on, saying how beautiful and healthy
Regina is. Mrs. Alving tries to calm him and rings for Regina to bring them a whole bottle.

Osvald admires Regina’s retreating figure but then sadly recalls a wrong he did to her: once, they were
talking about Paris, and he said they could go there together; it seems she took that to heart. When he realized she
had been hoping for this, he actually saw her magnificence for the first time and decided she was his salvation—
she was life.

Regina returns, and Osvald tells her to get a glass for herself as well. She is surprised, especially when
Mrs. Alving reluctantly says that this is [Link] her brief absence, Mrs. Alving tells Osvald he can’t do this, but he
firmly says it is decided.

Regina returns and sits. Mrs. Alving asks Osvald what he was saying about the joy of life, and he admits
that he’s never felt that at home. He felt it when he painted, and he believes that every one of his works springs
from that. In his works are “light and sunshine, and a holiday spirit”. He is afraid to remain here at home for fear
of losing that. When asked what he means, he explains it as “afraid of everything that’s best in me degenerating
into ugliness”.

Mrs. Alving is dismayed to hear this and rises to announce the truth. Before she can say anything, Pastor
Manders enters. He states that Regina must go with Engstrand. Osvald cuts in and says she is going with him. Mrs.
Alving begins to say that neither of these things will happen, but she does not get far.

Suddenly, shouts are heard, and, looking out the windows, Regina screams that something is burning in the
asylum. Everyone runs out. Pastor Manders claims this is a “fiery judgment on this wayward house” and adds that
it is a shame there is no insurance.
 Ghosts Summary of Act Three
It is still night in the same garden room. Mrs. Alving and Regina are standing together, stunned that the
whole orphanage burned down. Mrs. Alving goes to look for Osvald and the Pastor comes in. He sighs to Regina
that this is the most terrible night he’s lived through. He also begins to complain about Engstrand being after him
to talk about something; then, Engstrand himself enters.

Gleefully and slyly, Engstrand states that it is a shame Pastor Manders is to blame for this, as he was the
one responsible for the candles. He claims that he saw the Pastor take one, snuff the flame, and throw the wick into
some shavings. The Pastor is uncertain and paces about in disbelief that he could have accidentally done
something like that, even though he does not remember.

Engstrand continues, painting a picture of the press mistreating him. Mrs. Alving returns and says that
Osvald will not be talked out of leaving the ruins. In a clipped tone, she says that maybe this is all for the best, and
that the “Home” would not really have been that for anyone. She tells Manders, who is due to take the next
steamer out, to take the papers so she can be done with it all. Engstrand jumps in and reminds the Pastor about the
seamen’s home.

Pastor Manders begins to despair that he might have to resign because of the inquiry that will happen.
Engstrand sidles up to him and says he will go with him because he cannot abandon his benefactor. In fact, he will
take the blame for the fire if Manders will help him with the seamen’s home. Incredulous and grateful, Manders
agrees.

The Pastor bids goodbye to Mrs. Alving. Engstrand tells Regina she’ll know where to find him; then, he
announces to all that he plans to name his home “Captain Alving’s Home.” Manders and Engstrand exit.

Osvald returns and glumly says that Engstrand’s home will probably burn just like this one since nothing
of Father’s memory gets to remain. He sits down, wet from the water used to extinguish the fire. Mrs. Alving
fusses over him and asks if he wants to sleep; he fitfully says that he never sleeps anymore.

Regina asks if he is okay. Osvald simply calls for all the doors to be shut and begins to say how helpful
Regina will be to him: she will give him a helping hand when he finally needs it. Confused, Mrs. Alving offers,
but he smiles that she couldn’t do what he needs.

Mrs. Alving sighs, knowing that this is the moment to tell all. She begins by saying that she is going to
relieve Osvald of a burden: his self-reproach and self-blame. She paints a picture of the Chamberlain, full of the
joy of life. Osvald was born of this joy of life because his father could never find the outlet he needed, and Mrs.
Alving never gave him the sunshine he needed either. She knew about duty, yes, but she did not make the house
bearable for his father. She never wrote about it because she didn’t think it was proper to tell Osvald that his father
was a broken man before he was born. Finally, she implies that Regina belongs here in this house just the same as
he does.

The two young people are shocked as recognition dawns. Regina immediately asks for permission to leave,
and Mrs. Alving sadly obliges. Regina claims boldly that she’s got her youth and also the joy of life and has to see
to that now. She cannot stay with a sick man—and, now that she knows the truth, she definitely has to leave. She
complains that she should have been brought up as a gentleman’s daughter, not subserviently. Mrs. Alving
suggests that she is welcome to stay, but Regina waves her away and says that she can turn to Manders or another
house (implying her father’s) where she knows she will always be welcome. Mrs. Alving shakes her head that
Regina is heading for disaster, but Regina does not care and leaves.

Osvald shares his feelings about what he’s learned about his father, saying simply that it’s a surprise but it
doesn’t much matter to him. All he remembers about his father is that he made him throw up. It is an old
superstition that a child has to love their parent no matter what. He even suggests that he doesn’t love his mother,
but that he does at least know her and how much she cares for him.
 Mrs. Alving moans that she will try to make him love her, but he dismisses her, saying that he has no time
to think about others. She assures him that she will be patient and calm. Osvald is comforted a bit, but he asks who
will take away the dread. Mrs. Alving does not understand.

Osvald then asks if it is late, and Mrs. Alving replies that it is early morning, it looks to be a clear day, and
he will be able to see the sun. He rallies a bit, saying that there can be things to live for even if he can’t work. He
will feel better when he gets through the next thing too, and then the sun will rise and he will not have the dread.

Mrs. Alving asks what he means. He asks her if she really meant she’d do anything at all for him, and she
says "Of course." He tries to prepare her, asking her not to react irrationally or emotionally. She agrees. He then
says that his being tired and not working are the symptoms, not the illness. The illness is his inheritance from his
father and it is in his brain; it is ready to break out at any time. This stuns her, but he presses on. He says that he
had one attack and it subsided, but he dreads another. He is revolted, but it’s not that he is afraid of dying—rather,
he hates the idea of being a helpless child, to have to be fed and have other things done for him.

Mrs. Alving interjects to say that she can care for him, but he swiftly leaps up and says he does not want
that. He cannot fathom the idea of being a vegetable and just lying there. It is a softening of the brain and will not
be fatal right away, but his next attack will probably put him beyond hope. He reaches into his pocket and pulls
out what he identifies as morphine powder tablets.

Mrs. Alving cannot contain her horror, but her son presses on. He knows that if Regina had seen him like
that, she would have helped him; now, however, she is gone, so his mother must give him a helping hand instead.
She shakes her head, wondering how someone who gave him life could take it from him. He retorts that he did not
ask for life and does not want it.

In a frenzy now, Mrs. Alving leaves the room, claiming that she will go to the doctor. Osvald begs her to
accept that she would not want to see him this way. Finally, she turns to him, gives him her hand, and says she’ll
do it if necessary, but she is convinced it won’t be necessary. He thanks her sadly and says that he hopes it won’t.
Osvald sits in the armchair in front of the window, his back turned to the outside. The lamp is still lit. but the day
is beginning to break. His mother bends over him, telling him that he will be fine, that he will get better, that it is a
beautiful day with brilliant sunshine, and that he can finally see his home. She puts out the lamp and admires the
view.

In a dull tone, Osvald says that he wants to see the sun, repeating the words again and again. In terror, Mrs.
Alving looks at him. His muscles are slack, his face expressionless. She screams, shakes him, and tells him to look
at her. He simply repeats “the sun” over and over again.

She tears her hair and screams that this is unbearable, then she fumbles for the pills. She whispers "no" and
"yes" to herself. She steps closer and stares at him. He repeats “the sun” twice more.