Flashcards for Ghosts

Jacob Engstrand

Jacob Engstrand is a carpenter and a minor antagonist in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), serving as a clear example of moral hypocrisy and opportunistic manipulation.

character

Mrs. Helen Alving

Mrs. Helen Alving is the main character and moral anchor of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), a realist drama that challenges the Victorian ideals of duty, marriage, and social respectability.

character

Oswald Alving

Oswald Alving is the tragic protagonist of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881).

character

Pastor Manders

Pastor Manders is the local clergyman and a long-time family adviser to Mrs. Alving in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881).

character

Regina Engstrand

Regina Engstrand is the clever and determined housemaid at the Alving estate, and her hidden identity as Captain Alving's illegitimate daughter adds a layer of tragic irony to the play.

character

“Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was just as if I saw ghosts before me.”

This line is delivered by Mrs. Helene Alving in Henrik Ibsen's 1881 play Ghosts.

Mrs. Helene Alving · Act II

“The whole country is full of ghosts. I almost think we are as many ghosts as there are people.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Helene Alving in Henrik Ibsen's 1881 play Ghosts.

Mrs. Helene Alving · Act II

“I ought never to have concealed what sort of a life he led.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Helen Alving in Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts (1881) and reflects her inner turmoil of guilt and regret.

Mrs. Helen Alving · Act II

“I never had a home. And now I shall never have one.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Helen Alving in Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts (1881), a significant work in modern realist drama.

Mrs. Helen Alving

“It was cowardice — that is what it was. I was a coward.”

This line is delivered by Captain Alving, as revealed through Mrs. Helene Alving's memories in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881).

Captain Alving (quoted/recalled)

“Give me the sun, mother. The sun. The sun.”

This anguished cry is uttered by Oswald Alving near the end of Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts (1881), directed at his mother, Helene Alving.

Oswald Alving · Act III

“Your father was a great man in the eyes of the world. But I shall never believe that a man of his character could be entirely reformed by a single conversation.”

This line is delivered by Mrs. Helene Alving to Pastor Manders in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881).

Mrs. Helene Alving · Act I

“I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us.”

This powerful statement is made by Mrs. Helen Alving to Pastor Manders in Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts (1881).

Mrs. Helen Alving · Act II

“Mother, give me the sun.”

This desperate cry comes from Oswald Alving in Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts (1881), directed at his mother, Helene Alving, during the heart-wrenching conclusion of the drama.

Oswald Alving

“I am half inclined to think we are all of us ghosts.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Helene Alving in Henrik Ibsen's influential play Ghosts (1881) during a tense exchange with Pastor Manders in Act II.

Mrs. Helene Alving · Act II

Fire

In Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), fire symbolizes destruction, purification, and the overwhelming weight of inherited sin.

Ghosts / Inherited Sin

In Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), the ghosts represent the heavy burden of inherited sin, moral hypocrisy, and how the past continues to grip the living.

Rain and Grey Weather

In Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), the rain and dreary weather symbolize moral suffocation, unavoidable inheritance, and the heavy burden of societal expectations.

The Orphanage

In Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), the orphanage that Mrs. Alving creates in memory of Captain Alving symbolizes the stifling grip of social respectability and the lies that support it.

The Sun

In Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts (1881), the sun symbolizes truth, liberation, and the life-force that Mrs. Alving and Oswald are constantly denied.

Symbolism

The orphanage that Mrs. Alving builds in memory of her late husband serves as the play's main symbol.

Extended Metaphor

The title's main idea — that the dead continue to haunt the living — serves as a recurring metaphor throughout all three acts.

Irony

Ibsen fills the play with dramatic irony.

Dramatic Monologue

Mrs. Alving's extended confession to Pastor Manders in Act I acts like a dramatic monologue woven into their dialogue.

Motif

Light and darkness serve as a recurring theme throughout the play.

Repetition

Oswald's final lines — "The sun.

Allusion

Ibsen makes a clear reference to the biblical warning that the sins of the fathers are passed down to the children (Exodus 20:5), a passage that Pastor Manders would surely recognize.

Pathetic Fallacy

The constant rain in Acts I and II is one of Ibsen's most intentional uses of pathetic fallacy.

Juxtaposition

Ibsen consistently contrasts Pastor Manders and Mrs. Alving throughout Act I. Manders embodies institutional religion, social norms, and an unwillingness to confront the past, while Mrs. Alving represents personal insight, hidden defiance, and the damaging effects of conformity.

Paradox

The play's central paradox lies in the fact that Mrs. Alving's virtuous choices lead to disastrous results.

Aporia

The play concludes with a sense of unresolved tension.

Imagery

Ibsen creates a series of powerful images that revolve around themes of disease, inheritance, and contamination.

ghosts

In this play, the dead past that refuses to stay buried — inherited habits, beliefs, and sins that keep controlling the living without their knowledge or consent.

noun · Chapter 1

defunct

No longer existing or practiced, yet still exerting influence; dead but not yet gone from people's minds and behavior.

adjective · Chapter 1

cleave to

To remain faithfully and loyally attached to someone, refusing to leave or abandon them no matter the circumstances.

phrase · Chapter 1

holiest ties

The sacred bonds of marriage, regarded here as a religious and moral obligation that cannot be broken without sin.

phrase · Chapter 1

debauched

Given over to immoral, dissolute behavior — excessive drinking, sexual misconduct, and other vices that corrupt a person's character.

adjective · Chapter 1

orphanage

A charitable institution built to house and care for children without parents; here used by Mrs. Alving as a public monument to disguise her husband's true character.

noun · Chapter 1

insure

To take out an insurance policy on a building or property so that money is paid out if it is damaged or destroyed.

verb · Chapter 1

illegitimate

Born to parents who were not married to each other; a term carrying strong social stigma in the period the play is set.

adjective · Chapter 1

progressive

Favoring new, liberal, or reforming ideas that challenge traditional social, moral, or religious authority.

adjective · Chapter 1

joy of life

A natural, instinctive pleasure in simply being alive and experiencing the world; in the play it represents a vital force that rigid morality tries to suppress.

phrase · Chapter 2

visited upon

Inflicted on or suffered by someone as a consequence of another person's wrongdoing; used here in the biblical sense of punishment passing from parent to child.

phrase · Chapter 2

hereditary

Passed down from parent to child through biological inheritance; here describing a disease transmitted from father to son.

adjective · Chapter 2

syphilis

A serious infectious disease, sexually transmitted, that in its late stages attacks the brain and nervous system, causing paralysis and mental collapse.

noun · Chapter 2

sailors' home

A lodging house officially intended to shelter sailors between voyages; Engstrand plans to use it secretly as a brothel.

noun · Chapter 2

brothel

A place where men pay for sex; what Engstrand actually intends to run under the respectable cover of a sailors' home.

noun · Chapter 2

morphine

A powerful drug derived from opium, used medically to relieve pain; here kept as a means of ending Oswald's life if he becomes completely incapacitated.

noun · Chapter 3

incapacitated

Completely unable to think, move, or function independently; reduced to a helpless state by illness or injury.

adjective · Chapter 3

stupor

A state of near-unconsciousness in which a person is barely aware of their surroundings and cannot respond normally; a dazed, blank condition.

noun · Chapter 3

harrowing

Intensely distressing and deeply disturbing, causing anguish in those who witness or experience it.

adjective · Chapter 3

lethal

Capable of causing death; a lethal dose is an amount of a substance large enough to kill.

adjective · Chapter 3

corruption

The process of being morally ruined or led into vice; here the harmful influence Captain Alving's behavior might have had on his son.

noun · Chapter 1

parentage

The identity of a person's parents and the family they were born into; here the revelation that Regina's true father is Captain Alving.

noun · Chapter 3

dedication

A formal ceremony in which a building or institution is officially opened and named in honor of someone.

noun · Chapter 1

half-siblings

A brother and sister who share one biological parent but not both; here Oswald and Regina share the same father, Captain Alving.

noun · Chapter 1