Modern British Literature aSSIGNMT

Ghosts Drama Analysis

By Class 6B Group 1 :

1. Esa Lestari
2. Nurain Abd. Rahim
3. Yuliani Uyun
4. Safira Attamimi
5. Surnia Rahayaan
6. Mardatila Yakin
7. Sitti Zulaiha Mustary
8. Ratna Sahie
9. Sri Wulan Sutomo
10. William Renjaan
11. Samsul Taesa

Norway at that time.

In 1882, Norway had 30,000 departures from a population of 1.9 million inhabitants.
However, the number of emigrants was higher than 27% of women in 1900; in that year, there
were 165 men for every 100 women. The consequence was the disintegration of the family unit,
which resulted in a tremendous increase in births outside of wedlock and a tremendous increase
in prostitution.

The boom in prostitution and the proliferation of brothels caused a strong reaction, which
focused public attention on the issue of sexual morality. The Christians in Bergen were the first
to lead the offense in 1879. In 1881, the Association Against Public Immorality was founded.

During the debate on double standards (1879-1884), marriage was considered the basic
unit of society, but had to be reformed. For the author of The Bohemia of Kristena, that is more
radical: marriage is not the foundation of society, and debate should focus more on political
solutions to women's inequality. While Arne Garborg considers marriage a necessary evil, Hans
Jaeger believes that marriage should be replaced by free love.

In 1884, the Norwegian Women's Rights Association was formed, Norway's first formal
women's rights organization. In 1885, the Association for Voices for Women was founded, but
was dissolved in 1898. In 1890, the first women's unions were founded, then in 1896, the
Norwegian Women's Health organization and in 1904 the National Council of Women.
 Two important laws were passed in 1890. With the first law, married women gained majority
status. The second commandment ended the husband's dominion over the wife. The man retains
control of the couple's home, but the woman can now freely dispose of the fruits of her labor.

Hendry Ibsen . Biography

Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was an influential Norwegian
dramatist. He played a major role in the development of realistic drama and is dubbed the
"father of modern drama"). Some say that Ibsen is the most performed playwright in the world
after Shakespeare. Although he spent much of his life in exile, in Germany and Italy, Ibsen is
still considered the greatest Norwegian author of all time. He is considered a national symbol by
the Norwegians, and is one of the most important dramatics in world history.

Ibsen's work investigates the realities that lie behind many walls, and its contents reveal
a lot of things that have aroused the anxiety of many of his contemporaries. Ibsen founded
modern drama by introducing a critical eye and independent research into the conditions of life
and problems of morality.

Realism
Realism is the most significant and remarkable quality of Modern English Drama. The
playwrights of the early years of the twentieth century were attracted to naturalism and it was
their attempt to deal with real-life problems in realistic techniques for their plays. It was Henrik
Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright who popularized realism in Modern Drama. He tackles real-
life problems in a realistic way out of his game. His example was followed by Robertson Arthur
Jones, Galsworthy and G. B. Shaw in their plays.

Drama Ghosts is a drama created by Henrik Ibsen in 1881 this drama is Drama Realism.
This drama, which has a family and tragedy genre, tells the story of a realistic real life that
happened at that time in Norway. This drama tells about the problems that occur in the Alving
family. This drama has the theme of family secrets, cheating, and also illness. Where this drama
discusses the secrets that have been kept by Mrs. Alving about his late husband, told the illness
suffered by Oswald and also the fraud committed by Mr. Alving and several other characters.

Characters

1. Mrs. Alving is the wife of the late captain Alving. She is a rich widow.
2. Oswald is the son of Mr. Alving and Mrs. Alving he is a painter
3. Regina Engstrand is Mrs Alving's maid. He is the son of Mr. Alving is also the
stepdaughter of Jacob Engstrand
4. Manders is a priest who runs an orphanage.
5. Mr. Alving husband of Mrs. Alving and his father Oswald (deceased)
6. Johanna was the servant of the alving family when captain alving was alive (deceased)
Analysis of Realism in each Act:

Act 1
[ENGSTRAND, the carpenter, stands by the garden door. His left leg is somewhat bent; he has
a clump of wood under the sole of his boot. REGINA, with an empty garden syringe in her hand,
hinders him from advancing.

]REGINA. [In a low voice.] What do you want? Stop where you are. You're positively
dripping.

ENGSTAND. It's the Lord's own rain, my girl.

REGINA. It's the devil's rain, I say.

ENGSTAND. Lord, how you talk, Regina. [Limps a step or two forward into the

room.] It's just this as I wanted to say—

REGINA. Don't clatter so with that foot of yours, I tell you! The young master's asleep
upstairs.

ENGSTAND. Asleep? In the middle of the day?

REGINA. It's no business of yours.

ENGSTAND. I was out on the loose last night—

REGINA. I can quite believe that.

ENGSTAND. Yes, we're weak vessels, we poor mortals, my girl—

REGINA. So it seems.

ENGSTRAND.—and temptations are manifold in this world, you see. But all the same, I was
hard at work, God knows, at half-past five this morning.

REGINA. Very well; only be off now. I won't stop here and have rendezvous's [Note: This and
other French words by Regina are in that language in the original] with you.

ENGSTAND. What do you say you won't have?

REGINA. I won't have any one find you here; so just you go about your business
 The dialogue above describes a conversation between Regina and Engstrad, where the
conversation is simple but shows how they always associate something with God, as if
everything that happens is God's will, this is very different from Regina who is not very religious
and a little free.

The quote also describes the realism that occurred in that era, where churches and
religious sects dominated that era, this also applies to seeing the character of Engstrand who
always involves God in all affairs.

"One doesn't have to tell everyone and everything one reads and thinks within one's own four
walls."

In Regina's dialogue with her father Engstrand, where Engstrand wants to invite Regina to work
at the ship's house later after he finishes making Mr. Alving's orphanage

ENGSTAND. Come to town with me, my lass, and you'll soon get dresses enough.

REGINA. Pooh! I can do that on my own account, if I want to.

ENGSTAND. No, a father's guiding hand is what you want, Regina. Now, I've got my eye on a
capital house in Little Harbor Street. They don't want much ready-money; and it could be a sort
of a Sailors' Home, you know.

REGINA. But I will not live with you! I have nothing whatever to do with you. Be off!

ENGSTAND. You wouldn't stop long with me, my girl. No such luck! If you knew how to play
your cards, such a fine figure of a girl as you've grown in the last year or two—

REGINA. Well?
ENGSTRAND. You'd soon get hold of some mate—or maybe even a captain—

REGINA. I won't marry any one of that sort. Sailors have no savoir vivre.
ENGSTRAND. What's that they haven't got?
REGINA. I know what sailors are, I tell you. They're not the sort of people to marry.

ENGSTRAND. Then never mind about marrying them. You can make it pay all the same. [More
confidentially.] He—the Englishman—the man with the yacht—he came down with three
hundred dollars, he did; and she wasn't a bit handsomer than you.

REGINA. [Making for him.] Out you go!

ENGSTRAND.[Falling back.] Come, come! You're not going to hit me, I hope.

Page 6 and page 7

 In Regina's dialogue with her father Engstrand, where Engstrand wants to invite Reginina
to work at the ship's house later after he finishes building an orphanage belonging to Mr. Alving.
From the conversation above it is clear that Engstrand was about to invite Regina he persuaded
Regina to go with him because he was going to set up a houseboat business, the house was a
brothel he wanted to make the business and asked Regina to come with him and work there. Of
course Regina refused her father's invitation. Regina's father seemed to force his son to work for
him later. According to our group Here the author shows us Realism or the situation that
happened in Norway at that time where girls were under the control of their fathers and women.
At that time women experienced discrimination that women were only slaves to men. The
author made this story to change the minds of the people at that time.

MANDERS. Do you remember that after less than a year of married life you stood on the verge
of an abyss? That you forsook your house and home? That you fled from your husband? Yes,
Mrs. Alving—fled, fled, and refused to return to him, however much he begged and prayed you?
MRS. ALVING. Have you forgotten how infinitely miserable I was in that first year?
MANDERS. It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life. What
right have we human beings to happiness? We have simply to do our duty, Mrs. Alving! And your
duty was to hold firmly to the man you had once chosen, and to whom you were bound by the
holiest ties. Page 23

MRS. ALVING. You know very well what sort of life Alving was leading—what excesses he was
guilty of.
MANDERS. I know very well what rumours there were about him; and I am the last to approve
the life he led in his young days, if report did not wrong him. But a wife is not appointed to be
her husband's judge. It was your duty to bear with humility the cross which a Higher Power had,
in its wisdom, laid upon you. But instead of that you rebelliously throw away the cross, desert the
backslider whom you should have supported, go and risk your good name and reputation, and—
nearly succeed in ruining other people's reputation into the bargain Page 23

MANDERS. Just on that account. Yes, you may thank God that I possessed the necessary
firmness; that I succeeded in dissuading you from your wild designs; and that it was vouchsafed
me to lead you back to the path of duty, and home to your lawful husband. Page 23

MANDERS. Yes, you are; you must be. And in what state of mind has he returned to you?
Bethink yourself well, Mrs. Alving. You sinned greatly against your husband;—that you
recognise by raising yonder memorial to him. Recognise now, also, how you have sinned against
your son—there may yet be time to lead him back from the paths of error. Turn back yourself,
and save what may yet be saved in him. For [With uplifted forefinger] verily, Mrs. Alving, you
are a guilt-laden mother! This I have thought it my duty to say to you.[Silence.]
MRS. ALVING. [Slowly and with self-control.] You have now spoken out, Pastor
Manders; and to-morrow you are to speak publicly in memory of my husband. I shall not speak
to-morrow. But now I will speak frankly to you, as you have spoken to me. Page 24

MRS. ALVING.—the regard you owed to your position, yes; and that I was a runaway wife. One
can never be too cautious with such unprincipled creatures.

MANDERS. My dear—Mrs. Alving, you know that is an absurd exaggeration—

MRS. ALVING. Well well, suppose it is. My point is that your judgment as to my married life is
founded upon nothing but common knowledge and report. Page 25

From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Pastor Manders judged Mrs. Alving only
from people's stories, Manders herself said that Mrs. Alving was very sinful to her husband (page
24) because at that time Mrs. Alving left her husband, Manders also brought Mrs. Alving back to
do her duties as a wife because she thought that she had prevented Mrs. Alving from sinning
because her duty as a woman is to devote her life to her husband and must always accompany
her husband. The realism that is shown here is how difficult it is for women to live at that time,
where she must always accompany her husband, there is no sense of freedom, they are always
constrained by the duties and responsibilities as a wife.

Pastor Manders, Act 1 (Father Manders and Mrs. Alving)

Pastor Manders thought that the books Mrs. Helene Alving is a scandal and that she must
keep her progressive ideas to herself to avoid public rejection. His comments also hinted at his
own fear of revealing anything to the public that would make him appear less holy.

"But this is the essence of the rebellious spirit, yearning for happiness here in life. What right do
we as humans have to happiness? No, we must do our part, Mrs. Alving!"

Pastor Manders, Act 1 (Mrs Alving's Secret)

Pastor Manders lectured Mrs. Helene Alving, as she has in the past, claims that duty to
religion, society, and public appearance trumps personal happiness, even if it means living a life
of lies. This conflict between duty and happiness is the main tension in the drama.

"It was your proper role to bear with humility the cross that the higher would see fit to lay upon
you. But instead, you rebelliously threw away the cross, leaving the groping soul you should
have helped, went and risked the name good and your reputation and—almost destroying
another's reputation in the bargain."

Pastor Manders, Act 1 (Mrs Alving's Secret)

Pastor Manders uses God and religion to enforce traditional roles for women, who have had to
endure a difficult life. Women who seek happiness are "rebellious." Men who seek happiness,
even when they treat women badly, deserve help. However, what he was really worried about
was his own reputation.

"All your life you have been ruled by a spirit of irreparable desire. You have instinctively been
attracted to all that is undisciplined and unlawful.

Pastor Manders, Act 1 (Mrs Alving's Secret)"

Pastor Manders conveyed the typical idea of the time: women are all instincts and
emotions, not reason and intelligence. Mrs Helene Alving was clearly intelligent and
intellectually curious, but as she was a woman striving for personal fulfillment, she was bound to
be regretted and reproached.

"He is one of those people whose life has never diminished their reputation."

Mrs Helene Alving, Act 1 (Mrs Alving's Secret)

In describing Captain Alving, Mrs Helene Alving encapsulates the essence

of hypocrisy, which society allows. No matter how he acts, Captain Alving can
display falsehoods (with Mrs Alving's help) and be respected by society.

I thought the child would be poisoned just by breathing this polluted air. That's
why I sent him away. And now you can understand too, why he has never set foot
in this house while his father was alive. No one will know how much it cost me. ."
Mrs Helene Alving, Act 1 (Mrs Alving's Secret)

Although Mrs. Pure Helene Alving and real sacrifice, she has not realized that Osvald
Alving remains poisoned, biologically, when he is said to have inherited his father's syphilis. The
idea that the past is inescapable is key to the plot.

"We must not create any scandals.

Pastor Manders, Act 1 (Mrs Alving's Secret)"

Pastor Manders reveals the rules that govern his life. He is obsessed with avoiding
scandals, or even the appearance of scandals, even at the expense of his and others' happiness

MANDERS. Well—?

MRS. ALVING. Soon after, I heard Alving come in too. I heard him say something softly to
her. And then I heard—[With a short laugh]—oh! it still sounds in my ears, so hateful and yet
so ludicrous—I heard my own servantmaid whisper, "Let me go, Mr. Alving! Let me be!"
MANDERS. What unseemly levity on his part'! But it cannot have been more than levity, Mrs.
Alving; believe me, it cannot.MRS. ALVING. I soon knew what to believe. Mr. Alving had his
way with the girl; and that connection had consequences, Mr. Manders Act 26

From the conversation above Mrs. Alving tells the truth about her husband who has been
known as a clean person. Turns out he was a lecherous person, he raped his own servant, look
how helpless the lower social class women are who can't fight back.

ACT II
Setting: Dining room.

Mrs. Alving and Manders continue their conversation. She tells how she managed to hush
up the scandal of Alving's conduct by providing Joanna with a handsome dowry and having her
respectably married off to Jacob Engstrand. Manders is shocked that the carpenter lied to him by
confessing of his "light behavior" with Joanna and so deceived the pastor to perform the
ceremony.

MANDERS. To her—But then, Engstrand is not—? Good God, Mrs. Alving, it's
impossible! You must be mistaken after all.

MRS. ALVING. Unfortunately there is no possibility of mistake. Johanna confessed

everything to me; and Alving could not deny it. So there was nothing to be done but to get
the matter hushed up.

MANDERS. No, you could do nothing else.

MRS. ALVING. The girl left our service at once, and got a good sum of money to hold her
tongue for the time. The rest she managed for herself when she got to town. She renewed
her old acquaintance with Engstrand, no doubt let him see that she had money in her
purse, and told him some tale about a foreigner who put in here with a yacht that
summer. So she and

MANDERS. But then how to account for—? I recollect distinctly Engstrand coming to
give notice of the marriage. He was quite overwhelmed with contrition, and bitterly
reproached himself for the misbehaviour he and his sweetheart had been guilty of.

(Pg. 31, Act II)

The Pastor is reminded of the wedding of Engstrand and Johanna, when Engstrand was
profusely sorry for his irresponsibility in impregnating Johanna out of wedlock. Now, the Pastor
is shocked by Engstrand's hypocrisy, especially considering the sum of money that Johanna was
awarded to keep quiet and which no doubt prompted him to marry her.

MANDERS. But then how to account for—? I recollect distinctly Engstrand coming to
give notice of the marriage. He was quite overwhelmed with contrition, and bitterly
reproached himself for the misbehaviour he and his sweetheart had been guilty of.

MRS. ALVING. Yes; of course he had to take the blame upon himself.

MANDERS. But such a piece of duplicity on his part! And towards me too! I never could
have believed it of Jacob Engstrand. I shall not fail to take him seriously to task; he may
be sure of that.—And then the immorality of such a connection! For money—! How much
did the girl receive?

MRS. ALVING. Three hundred dollars.

(Pg. 31, Act II)

Mrs. Alving's notion of "ghosts" gets at the heart of the play. Not only are there ghosts in the
sense of specific persons come back to life in new forms—as one could figuratively say that
Regina is a ghost of Johanna—there are ideas that "haunt" generation after generation.

MRS. ALVING. Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was as though ghosts
rose up before me. But I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only
what we have inherited from our father and mother that "walks" in us. It is all sorts of
dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us
all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see
ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all the country over, as thick as the
sands of the sea. And then we are, one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light.

(Pg. 35, Act II)

As a priest, Pastor Manders is a purveyor of these ghosts. His emphasis on ideas of familial
loyalty is a plague on all the characters in the play. Regina does not want to return to Engstrand;
Oswald does not believe that marriages must be sanctioned by the church; Mrs. Alvin does not
believe that she should have been loyal to her husband.

MANDERS. Nobody can be held responsible for the result. This, at least, remains clear:
your marriage was in full accordance with law and order.

MRS. ALVING. [At the window.] Oh, that perpetual law and order! I often think that is
what does all the mischief in this world of ours.

MANDERS. Mrs. Alving, that is a sinful way of talking.

 (Pg. 32, Act II)

MRS. ALVING. [Drumming on the window frame.] “I ought never to have concealed the
facts of Alving's life. But at that time I dared not do anything else-I was afraid, partly on my own
account. I was such a coward.”)

and page 33

(MRS. ALVING. “If people had come to know anything, they would have said— "Poor
man! with a runaway wife, no wonder he kicks over the traces.")

on page 31

"MRS. ALVING. The girl left our service at once, and got a good sum of money to hold
her tongue for the time. The rest she managed for herself when she got to town. She renewed her
old acquaintance with Engstrand, no doubt let him see that she had money in her purse, and told
him some tale about a foreigner who put in here with a yacht that summer. So she and Engstrand
got married in hot haste. Why, you married them yourself".

And also a quote

"MANDERS. But such a piece of duplicity on his part! And towards me too! I never could
have believed it of Jacob Engstrand. I shall not fail to take him seriously to task; he may be sure
of that and then the immorality of such a connection! For money—! How much did the girl
receive?

MRS. ALVING. Three hundred dollars.

MANDERS. Just think of it—for a miserable three hundred dollars, to go and marry a
fallen woman!"

The quote above proves and strengthens our analysis of this ghost drama, including the
drama of social realism because there is prostitution and there is also an upper class power who
arbitrarily has sex with servants and is hidden and then paid with some money.

And also quote page 42

"MRS. ALVING. I think you are, and will always be, a great baby, Manders.

MANDERS. I?

MRS. ALVING. [Laying her two hands upon his shoulders.] And I say that I have half a
mind to put my arms round your neck, and kiss you.
 MANDERS. [Stepping hastily back.] No, no! God bless me! What an idea!

MRS. ALVING. [With a smile.] Oh, you needn't be afraid of me."

In 1882 in Norway there was free sex between the upper class and slaves as well as his
fellow circles Henrik criticized the incident with this ghost drama about social realism. Because
they have agreed to bury their mistakes and cover up their past.

And also quote page 46

"OSWALD. He said, "The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children."

This quote proves that this drama belongs to the flow of sociological realism by showing
the depravity of his father Tuan Alving and now his son Oswald.

Act 3
The orphanage caught fire and everyone got out of the place

Mrs. Alving explains in the third part that Oswald's father was not very good since he
was young and he didn't even have one friend who could make him realize the happiness of life
quoted on page 61. he was like a child in those days—he had to live in a house here in a half-
grown city, which offered him no pleasure—only dissipation. He had no purpose in life—only an
official position. He had no work he could do fully heart and soul; he has only business. He
has no friends who can realize what happiness means in life—only lounge chairs and friends)

Page 62 ( MOM. ALVING. [Slowly.] I only see this one thing: that your father was a
broken man before you were born.)

Mrs. Alving's husband is not well known in his family, but Mrs. Alving's husband is
very kind to the people around him, in fact he built an orphanage which has now been burned
down.

Describing the people who started leaving Mrs. Alving's family because of a
surrendered husband who made their lives crumble, ever since the orphanage burned down is on
page 54, " OSWALD. [In the window on the left.] What happened? Where did the light come
from? that?

REGINA. [Crying.] The orphanage is on fire!

MRS. ALVING. [Runs to the window.] Burning!This shows the reality of life that
something that is built and there is evil in it will disappear and then the suspect from the
orphanage burning is the priest manders listed on pages 56 and 57 "Jacob engstrand. And I saw
as clear as day how His Majesty took a candle and extinguished it with your fingers, and threw
the tobacco between the shavings.

MANDER. And you stand and look?

Jacob Engstrand. Yes; I see it as clear as a spear stick, I see it

MANDER. No; that's all I thought. That's almost the worst of the whole problem. All
the ferocious attacks and accusations—! Oh, it makes me shudder to think about it!

"This also shows that it is not always a noble priest who does not have the dark side of
someone who is considered holy from many people."

and mrs alving told priest to go and close all her affair with priest manders, some people
went by steamer including pastor manders, pages 57 and 59 "Mrs. ALVING. So be kind to take
all the papers with you. I won't hear a word about this affair. I have other things to think about
—

MANDER. Goodbye, Miss Alving! and may the spirit of Law and Order descend upon
this house, and so quickly.

MRS. ALVING. Goodbye, Reverend Manders. [He is going up towards the

conservatory, when he sees OSWALD enter through the garden door.]

Jacob Engstrand. [Meanwhile he and REGINA help MANGERS put on his coat.]
Goodbye, my son. And if trouble comes to you, you know where Jacob Engstrand can be found.
[Soft.] Little Harbor Street, h'm—! [To MRS. ALVING and OSWALD.] And the sanctuary for
wandering sailors will be called "Chamberlain Alving's House," that is! And if so if I am
allowed to continue the house in my own way, I dare promise that it will be worthy of the
Treasurer's memory.

MANDER. [In the doorway.] Hm—hm!—Come on, dear Enstrand.

Goodbye! Goodbye! [He and ENGSTRAND exit through the hall.]

Shows that something that looks good is not necessarily good, there is also a bad side,
Regina who survived has now left because she was ordered by Mrs. Alving

MRS. ALVING. You have to go, this time. And meanwhile sitting here beside us. ( Page
60 ) because mrs aliving had exposed her husband's secret, oswald who hoped that regina could
help him instead had left him because of his mother, " mrs. alving. Then; day after day, i was
thinking one thought that Regina should feel at home in this house—just like a son -my own
man. (Page 62)" and now left Mrs. Alving and Oswald at home and Oswald was seriously on
drugs. In the third act, all the secrets that have been kept by Mrs. Alving are revealed. Realism
can also be found in this chapter. When Mrs. Alving tells Aswold and Regina the truth that their
fathers are the same.

MRS. ALVING. [Slowly.] I saw only this one thing: that your father was a broken-down
man before you were born.

OSWALD. [Softly.] Ah—! [He rises and walks away to the window.]

MRS. ALVING. And then; day after day, I dwelt on the one thought that by rights
Regina should be at home in this house—just like my own boy.

OSWALD. [Turning round quickly.] Regina—!

REGINA. [Springs up and asks, with bated breath.] I—?

MRS. ALVING. Yes, now you know it, both of you.

OSWALD. Regina!

REGINA. [To herself.] So mother was that kind of woman.

MRS. ALVING. Your mother had many good qualities, Regina.

REGINA. Yes, but she was one of that sort, all the same. Oh, I've often suspected it; but
—And now, if you please, ma'am, may I be allowed to go away at once?Page 62.

In this quote Mrs. Alving admits that their father was a man who liked free sex, which at
that time in 1882 there were many free sex and venereal diseases. Oswald suffered from
venereal disease himself, which was inherited from his father because of his habit of playing sex.
The disease made Oswald suffer and always took morphine to relieve pain.

OSWALD. When I got over my attack in Paris, the doctor told me that when it comes
again—and it will come—there will be no more hope.

MRS. ALVING. He was heartless enough to—

OSWALD. I demanded it of him. I told him I had preparations to make—[He smiles

cunningly.] And so I had. [He takes a little box from his inner breast pocket and opens it.]
Mother, do you see this?

MRS. ALVING. What is it?

OSWALD. Morphia.

Page 67
 This drama also tells of an affair that gives the other person the opportunity to profit.
Breaking the depravity of the nobility at that time which always concealed irregularities in the
family environment, where the image and honor of the nobility had to be guarded to death, but in
the end the sins that were kept tightly closed would be exposed at the right time.

The drama above is a drama of realism. This family drama has a tragedy genre, what
happened to Mrs. Alving, Mrs. Regina Johana, Regina, and Oswald is a tragedy itself. This
drama has the theme of family secrets where Mrs. Alving hides the truth of who her real husband
is. In the eyes of people he is a good man but in fact his husband is a very rude person, he is
corrupt and also a lecherous man who rapes his own maid. to cover up the barbaric thing that
was done by her own husband, so Mrs. Alving paid Engstrand to be the husband of Regina's
mother and become a father to Regina. Ghosts itself is an old belief that if not justified can
destroy human life, this is evidenced by what happened to Oswald who had a venereal disease.
From this drama we can see that hiding the truth will result in disaster. From this drama also a
moral message can be taken that a secret that is tightly closed will eventually be revealed.