Ghosts (SparkNotes Literature Guide)
By SparkNotes
()
About this ebook
Making the reading experience fun!
Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes is a new breed of study guide: smarter, better, faster.
Geared to what today's students need to know, SparkNotes provides:
chapter-by-chapter analysis
explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols
a review quiz and essay topics
Lively and accessible, these guides are perfect for late-night studying and writing papers.
Read more from Spark Notes
King Lear: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Much Ado About Nothing (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Fear Shakespeare Audiobook: Romeo & Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bird by Bird (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As You Like It (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Macbeth: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5No Fear Shakespeare Audiobook: Julius Caesar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Merchant of Venice: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tempest (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outsiders (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Autobiography of Malcom X (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Richard III (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Raisin in the Sun (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMeasure for Measure (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Atlas Shrugged SparkNotes Literature Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings100 Years of Solitude (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTempest: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry V (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Merchant of Venice (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Gentlemen of Verona (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Winter's Tale (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRomeo and Juliet SparkNotes Literature Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Lear (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Comedy of Errors (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Othello (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Richard II (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry IV Parts One and Two (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51984 SparkNotes Literature Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Ghosts (SparkNotes Literature Guide)
Related ebooks
Ready Reference Treatise: Ghosts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReady Reference Treatise: A Doll’s House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scoundrel's Pleasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Charming Earl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Safe Haven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiddle Ground Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEugene Zarebski – a Story of Escape, Survival and Resilience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHedda Gabler (SparkNotes Literature Guide) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary and Analysis of "A Doll’s House" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhosts by Henrik Ibsen - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReady Reference Treatise: Death and the King's Horseman Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Eddie: The Lost Youth of Edgar Allan Poe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ready Reference Treatise: Brand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Reluctant Duchess: A Charmingly Sexy Historical Regency Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Tame the Beastly Earl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Modern Icelandic Plays Eyvind of the Hills; The Hraun Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAunt Jane's Nieces Abroad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Susan Glaspell's "Alison's House" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Widow in Waiting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ivan the Heartless Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Map of Azoons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Caretaker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Face Behind the Veil Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlackout: An Ari Thor Thriller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Vivaldi Codex Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Doll's House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeven Eight Play It Straight: Grasshopper Lawns, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Book Notes For You
Summary of The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Untamed by Glennon Doyle: Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Eight Dates: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by John Gottman: Conversation Starters Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez: Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill: Conversation Starters Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab: Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest : Discussion Prompts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Ichiro Kishimi's and Fumitake Koga's book: The Courage to Be Disliked: Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy: Conversation Starters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Workbook for Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Summary of How to Know a Person By David Brooks: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The 5 AM Club Summary: Business Book Summaries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson: Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel by Jeanine Cummins: Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of Eat to Beat Disease by Dr. William Li Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor: Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins: Conversation Starters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig: Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Ghosts (SparkNotes Literature Guide)
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Ghosts (SparkNotes Literature Guide) - SparkNotes
Ghosts
Henrik Ibsen
© 2003, 2007 by Spark Publishing
This Spark Publishing edition 2014 by SparkNotes LLC, an Affiliate of Barnes & Noble
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
Sparknotes is a registered trademark of SparkNotes LLC
Spark Publishing
A Division of Barnes & Noble
120 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
www.sparknotes.com /
ISBN-13: 978-1-4114-7521-2
Please submit changes or report errors to www.sparknotes.com/.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Context
Summary
Characters
Act 1, Part 1 of 5
Act 1, Part 2 of 5
Act 1, Part 3 of 5
Act 1, Part 4 of 5
Act 1, Part 5 of 5
Act 2, Part 1 of 4
Act 2, Part 2 of 4
Act 2, Part 3 of 4
Act 2, Part 4 of 4
Act 3, Part 1 of 2
Act 3, Part 2 of 2
Analysis
Study Questions
Review & Resources
Context
Henrik Ibsen is one of the world's greatest dramatists. He was the leading figure of an artistic renaissance that took place in Norway around the end of the nineteenth century, in which the work of artist Edward Munch also played a large part. Ibsen lived from 1828 to 1906. He grew up in poverty, studied medicine for a while, and then abandoned that to write plays. In 1858, he published his first play, The Vikings at Helgeland, and married Susannah Thoresen, the daughter of a pastor.
Ibsen obtained a scholarship to travel to Italy, where he wrote the plays that would establish his reputation, Brand and Peer Gynt. These were long, historical verse plays. He lived most of the rest of his life in Italy and in Germany. Starting in 1869, he began to write prose plays, giving up the verse form. Some critics characterize this switch as an abandonment of poetry in favor of realism. In 1877, Ibsen began what would become a series of five plays in which he examines the moral faults of modern society. The group includes A Doll's House,The Wild Duck, and Ghosts.
Like all of Ibsen's plays, Ghosts was originally written in Norwegian, and is full of untranslatable wordplay. James Joyce admired Ibsen so much that as a youth he attempted to teach himself the language in order to read Ibsen in the original. In the case of Ghosts, perhaps the most important problem of translation is that of the word livsglede,
which can be translated as the joy of life,
only this sounds too pretentious for the Norwegian word.
Summary
Jakob Engstrand tries to convince his supposed daughter Regina to come work at the sailor's establishment he wants to open, but she is too proud of her job as Mrs. Alving's maid to do so. He leaves and Pastor Manders enters. The Pastor tries to convince Regina to help her father, while she pesters him to find her a position somewhere in high society. She leaves and Mrs. Alving enters. Oswald, Mrs. Alving's son, comes down. He has been traveling in Europe since he was young,