Ghosts

Ibsen's powder-keg drama: a widow uncovers the lies her late husband's reputation was built on, too late for her son.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Henrik Ibsen

type

Realist drama

era

Modern realism (1881)

language

Norwegian (Danish)

setting

A fjord estate, western Norway

source text

Ibsen's response to the outcry over A Doll's House

acts

3 acts

Relative Scale in Plays

Core Principles & Analysis

• Published in 1881, it scandalized Europe and struggled to find a stage for two years.
• Its frank treatment of inherited disease and assisted marriage broke public decorum.
• Scandinavian and German companies first dared to perform it, in 1882–83.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Ghosts (play)