, v - -o _ _ - -

:.. -- -- d ss Os wa ld ex pla ins . No on e b

f retche ne ' . .~
t life is a state o w of bei ng alive 1~ tho ugl1t to b~ a ma e11ev
tha. tter f es t\
Pans where "the mere- ht facth an d sun shi ne an d a ho lid ay fee11·
'. ess There is 1ig t here e If no t ng,•or e~i.,
1
happin · t leave om · "al l the se fee lin gs tha t ar he\
~;•

Oswald says he mu s into som ' " . e so ".

eth ing ug ly here,_ he tel ls his mothe
would degenerate N
r. Sh:~ o ni
me w for the firs t tim e, she mu rm urs "I rei;
him steadily for a moment. o ,
d no w I can spe ak . " Sh e is . b
how it all happened. ~a nd ers sud de a ou t to tell' Ossee cl~
nly ent ers , ch eer ful from havin Waldi
Regina the truth wh en
. " t the pra yer meeting. He say s he ha s dec ide d that gE s~~
"edifying ttme a
1 'th the sai.1ors, ho me an d Re gin a mu st go an d live Witl, h·ng5Ut
needs he P wi . wi th me " Os wa ld sta tes , an d Mand , un
"R gina is going away ' ers turn ·
e . d t "That wil 'th " h d
l no t ha pp en e1 er, s e eclares and 1, s to
Al · g in bew1l ermen · d.
vm , thi
the pastor s p1ea d'mg 1.s about to spe ak openly. At s mo me nt they hea '
r sh
es•
f
. d h h the co nse rva tor
• d h out
outsid y wi
e an t rou g
. bla ze "M . .n ow s
. d t ey see a .red glare.i
orphanage 1s a rs Alv ing , tha t fire 1s a JU gm en t on this house
·
cries Manders. As they all· rus h ou t to h • of :
the orp ha na ge , e 1s left wringin~~\
hands. "And no insurance," he moans
, an d the n fol low s them.
Formally developing the drama, ~e sec
o~d act brin_gs ou t detai~s and enlar;
the action, characterizations an d motiv
es wh ich we re int rod uce d m the first~
Moreover, the acceleration of eve nts
tak ing pla ce in thi s scene, their ef!et
heightened by the rich symbolism in
Mrs. Al vin g's "ghosts" speech, leads(
audience to await the final nemesis or
jud gm en t tha t wi ll occur in Act ill. Mrr
specifically, the purpose of this second
pa rt is to focus att ent ion on Oswald an
complete the characterizations of the
sec on da ry cha rac ter s. By so doin~ u
playwright can fully disclose the con
sequences wh en individuals live byoi
beliefs and traditional dogma and the
n assess the gu ilt for this crime.
Exp~sing the history of their previous rel
ationship, the conversationbetwee
Mrs. Alvmg and Pastor Manders provid
es the aud ien ce wi th a completed portrt
of the c~ergyman. First showing Manders
' hy po cri sy an d self-centeredness, lbrt
sums him up as a 'bi g baby." The drama
tist, by all ow ing Engstrand to recitetli
humbug st0ry of his virtuous life, fully
depicts the mo ral irresponsibility of tti
~arpe~ter. Wi th these two characters
com ple tel y dev elo ped , Ibsen may n~i
mRve_stigate the problem of Mrs. Alving
egma and Oswald. an d dw ell on the fruits of her cowardict

and ~: ::r din~o m :~ their "joy of life

" inh eri ted thr ou gh their father,_Re~
incest rel ati o;s ~~ ~ r yo u thfu1 inn
ocence by be ing un aw are of th~1\:~
before him feels l~ t thien ~s . Alvin
g dis cov ers tha t Oswald, like ~s oniou
home atm'osphere sh s exu erance of
life will deg ene rat e in the sanctitll all'e ·
dissipated drunkard 'te sud de nly un
de rst an ds wh y he r husband b~CRef
to comprehend the t~~ pr; :n_ t fur_t~e
r deceit, she pre par es Oswal~ all AS ~
begins to say the words ; t ~ir on gm
s an d the na tur e of their hentagedisco"1
!he _or~hanage is ablaze.a T;!11s
raze these old lies of he r pas t lif~, ~ :
mstitution to serve society _ is ym bo wor~
l of hy po cri sy an d deceit
destr0yed in the mo me nt of tr11th•