Curated set · answers marked
Which character in Ghosts does Mrs. Alving reveal has been the true source of moral corruption in the Alving household, despite his celebrated public reputation?
Rationale
Throughout the play, Mrs. Alving tells Pastor Manders that her late husband, Captain Alving, lived a deeply immoral private life — including fathering an illegitimate child with their servant — which sharply contrasts with the respectable image that society had of him. The entire play breaks down the illusion of his virtue.
Which character in Ghosts does Mrs. Alving ultimately reveal was the true source of moral corruption in the Alving household, despite his celebrated public reputation?
Rationale
Throughout the play, Mrs. Alving tells Pastor Manders that her late husband, Captain Alving, lived a hidden life of indulgence and moral decay — a stark contrast to the saintly public image she helped uphold. His legacy casts a shadow over the entire play, both in a literal and symbolic sense.
Quiz Question: Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen
Question: At the end of Ghosts, Oswald Alving pleads with his mother, Mrs. Helene Alving, to do something for him as his illness worsens. What does he continuously ask her to provide?
A) A letter confessing his father's sins B) The sun ("The sun — the sun!") C) Morphine / the pills to end his suffering D) His father's portrait
Correct Answer: C) Morphine / the pills to end his suffering
Explanation: In the heart-wrenching final scene of Ghosts, Oswald's inherited syphilis leads to the collapse of his mind. He had made his mother promise to give him morphine tablets to end his suffering if this moment arrived. As the curtain falls, he sinks into a vacant stupor and murmurs about "the sun," but his clear, repeated request to his mother during the scene is for the morphine — leaving Mrs. Alving caught in a painful moral quandary.