Ghosts Play

Essay by Drain_Bramaged87High School, 12th gradeA+, May 2004

download word file, 1 pages 3.0 1 reviews

The play "Ghosts" was written Henrik Ibsen in 1881. The play went for just over an hour but it seemed like an eternity. To say that only a few people liked this play would be an overstatement; I don't think anyone enjoyed it.

The play was set in 1881 in a house owned by Helene. Helene lives in a country town in Norway. Back then in Norway they had very strict morals and such topics as sexually transmitted diseases and leaving your husband weren't even thought of. The play dealt with a lot of controversial issues for its time and place.

The main character in the play was Helene (the mother of Oswald). Oswald had syphilis, an STD. Oswald thought he caught it trough his own fault, when in fact he's inherited it through his father, who slept around. Helene wants her son to keep thinking his father was a good man, but doesn't want to tell him that he cheated on her.

The other characters in the play include Paster Manders (priest and good friends with Helene, Regine (Helene's maid) and Estranged (the carpenter who claims to be Regine's father).

The themes that the play dealt with were: women marrying for money instead of love, leaving your husband was not an option and children should look up to parents, no matter what they were like. While most of these themes aren't going to make an exciting play these days, back in 1881 it was viewed as controversial and before its time.

I wouldn't recommend Ghosts to anyone. The structure of the play was its major downfall, having only one room to base the entire play, meant that the play felt like it wasn't going anywhere and consequently added to the already high boredom level. The play often involved...