- ghostsnounChapter 1 →
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.
“I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders.”
- defunctadjectiveChapter 1 →
No longer existing or practiced, yet still exerting influence; dead but not yet gone from people's minds and behavior.
“all sorts of old defunct theories, all manner of old defunct beliefs, and things of that kind.”
- cleave tophraseChapter 1 →
To remain faithfully and loyally attached to someone, refusing to leave or abandon them no matter the circumstances.
“Your duty was to cleave to the man you had chosen, and to whom you were bound by the holiest ties.”
- holiest tiesphraseChapter 1 →
The sacred bonds of marriage, regarded here as a religious and moral obligation that cannot be broken without sin.
“to the man you had chosen, and to whom you were bound by the holiest ties.”
- debauchedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Given over to immoral, dissolute behavior — excessive drinking, sexual misconduct, and other vices that corrupt a person's character.
- orphanagenounChapter 1 →
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.
- insureverbChapter 1 →
To take out an insurance policy on a building or property so that money is paid out if it is damaged or destroyed.
- illegitimateadjectiveChapter 1 →
Born to parents who were not married to each other; a term carrying strong social stigma in the period the play is set.
- progressiveadjectiveChapter 1 →
Favoring new, liberal, or reforming ideas that challenge traditional social, moral, or religious authority.
- joy of lifephraseChapter 2 →
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.
“I only want to have the joy of life, ma'am.”
- visited uponphraseChapter 2 →
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.
“The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children.”
- hereditaryadjectiveChapter 2 →
Passed down from parent to child through biological inheritance; here describing a disease transmitted from father to son.
- syphilisnounChapter 2 →
A serious infectious disease, sexually transmitted, that in its late stages attacks the brain and nervous system, causing paralysis and mental collapse.
- sailors' homenounChapter 2 →
A lodging house officially intended to shelter sailors between voyages; Engstrand plans to use it secretly as a brothel.
- brothelnounChapter 2 →
A place where men pay for sex; what Engstrand actually intends to run under the respectable cover of a sailors' home.
- morphinenounChapter 3 →
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.
- incapacitatedadjectiveChapter 3 →
Completely unable to think, move, or function independently; reduced to a helpless state by illness or injury.
- stupornounChapter 3 →
A state of near-unconsciousness in which a person is barely aware of their surroundings and cannot respond normally; a dazed, blank condition.
- harrowingadjectiveChapter 3 →
Intensely distressing and deeply disturbing, causing anguish in those who witness or experience it.
- lethaladjectiveChapter 3 →
Capable of causing death; a lethal dose is an amount of a substance large enough to kill.
- corruptionnounChapter 1 →
The process of being morally ruined or led into vice; here the harmful influence Captain Alving's behavior might have had on his son.
- parentagenounChapter 3 →
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.
- dedicationnounChapter 1 →
A formal ceremony in which a building or institution is officially opened and named in honor of someone.
- half-siblingsnounChapter 1 →
A brother and sister who share one biological parent but not both; here Oswald and Regina share the same father, Captain Alving.
GhostsPlay by Henrik Ibsen