of the nineteenth century, while in point of essential originality
it towers above them. We cannot, I think, get nearer to the truth
than Georg Brandes did in the above-quoted phrase from his first
notice of the play, describing it as not, perhaps, the poet's
greatest work, but certainly his noblest deed. In another essay,
Brandes has pointed to it, with equal justice, as marking Ibsen's
final breach with his early-one might almost say his hereditary
romanticism. He here becomes, at last, "the most modern of the
moderns." "This, I am convinced," says the Danish critic, "is his
imperishable glory, and will give lasting life to his works."



GHOSTS
(1881)

CHARACTERS.

MRS. HELEN ALVING, widow of Captain Alving, late Chamberlain to
the King. [Note: Chamberlain (Kammerherre) is the only title of
honour now existing in Norway. It is a distinction conferred by the
King on men of wealth and position, and is not hereditary.]
OSWALD ALVING, her son, a painter.
PASTOR MANDERS.
JACOB ENGSTRAND, a carpenter.
REGINA ENGSTRAND, Mrs. Alving's maid.

The action takes place at Mrs. Alving's country house, beside one
of the large fjords in Western Norway.