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A woman struggles to protect her son from her late husband’s many secrets. Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen, illustrates a family’s internal strife due to the father’s infidelity, deception and poor health. A mother attempts to secure her son’s future, while combating the ugly truth tied to her husband’s looming legacy.
About the author
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was a Norwegian playwright who thrived during the late nineteenth century. He began his professional career at age 15 as a pharmacist's apprentice. He would spend his free time writing plays, publishing his first work
Catilina in 1850, followed by
The Burial Mound that same year. He eventually earned a position as a theatre director and began producing his own material. Ibsen's prolific catalogue is noted for depicting modern and real topics. His major titles include
Brand,
Peer Gynt and
Hedda Gabler.
Summary
Helen Alving is a widow who’s committed to protecting her son from his father’s unsavory past which was marked by a string of extramarital affairs. She doesn’t want her son to be affected by his scandalous choices.
After her husband’s death, Helen Alving decides to dedicate an orphanage in his memory. She uses the project to drain his estate, so their son Oswald won’t retain any of his fortune. Instead, she plans to bequeath only her money, free from her husband’s influence. Yet Oswald’s health is failing, having inherited a disease from his father. As the pain progresses, Oswald decides to take matters into his own hands. He asks his mother to inject him with a fatal dose of medication to end his suffering once and for all.
In Ghosts, Ibsen covers multiple controversial topics. At the time of its production in 1882, it was immediately criticized for its subject matter. The play destroys the façade of the traditional family, speaking freely about infidelity, incest and venereal disease.
With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Ghosts is both modern and readable.
