Characters Discussed
Mrs. Helen Alving
Mrs. Helen Alving, a widow, the mother of an ailing only son. Although she reads liberal books and has extraordinarily liberal views concerning the possible marriage of her son and his illegitimate half sister, whose identity is known only to Mrs. Alving, she is an outwardly severe woman whose life has been governed by duty. As a young wife, she had fled from her profligate husband, whom she had married for his money, to seek refuge with the parish pastor, Mr. Manders, with whom she had fallen in love. Mr. Manders righteously had sent her back to her husband, and they maintained the appearance of a home for the remainder of his life. With her husband’s money, which she now loathes, Mrs. Alving has built an orphanage in memory of her husband. On the advice of Mr. Manders, she decides not to insure the building because to do so would be to show lack of faith. When the building burns, Mrs. Alving is indifferent. Although Mrs. Alving promises her son Oswald that she will administer some fatal pills to him when his mind goes, she is unable to do so at the conclusion of the play. Her revulsion and terror are unrelieved.
Oswald Alving
Oswald Alving, an art student afflicted with a disease, apparently syphilis, contracted or inherited from his father. He reveals to his mother that his mind is being blotted out by the disease, which doctors have told him was acquired early in his life. Because Mrs. Alving had sent Oswald away from home at seven years of age so that he would not realize his father’s true nature, he believes he has brought the disease on himself. In addition, he has inherited his father’s joy of life, now left behind with his art and his free-living companions abroad. Faced with mental oblivion, he comes home but finds no solace except in the contemplation of a possible marriage and departure with Regina, a young servant, in whom he recognizes the joy of life they have both inherited from their father. Incapacitated by the knowledge of his destiny, Oswald can no longer paint. He tries drink but gets little relief. After he tells his mother of his condition and his hope of marrying Regina, Mrs. Alving decides that she must tell them that they have the same father. This knowledge devastates Oswald. Shortly after he shows his mother the pills, which he says Regina would have been willing to give him, his mind goes, and he plaintively asks his mother to give him the sun.
Regina Engstrand
Regina Engstrand, a servant, ostensibly the daughter of a carpenter. Her mother, Joanna, now dead, had been a maid in the Alving household. Mr. Alving was Regina’s father. Unaware of her identity, Regina feels that she is above Engstrand, who wants her to return to him and help him run a “home for homeless sailors.” Regina, ambitious to marry Oswald and improve her station even before the idea has occurred to Oswald, detests Engstrand, who drinks and accuses her mother of immoral behavior. When Regina discovers that she is Oswald’s half sister, she leaves for the “Alving Home,” the sailors’ refuge that Engstrand will finance with money from the Alving estate, money that Mr. Manders has secured for him. When Mrs. Alving tells her that she is going to her ruin, Regina shows no concern.
Mr. Manders
Mr. Manders, the pastor of the parish. When Mr. Manders reproves Mrs. Alving for deserting her husband and for sending her young son away to become a freethinking artist, she reveals the...
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true nature of Mr. Alving, her reason for sending Oswald away, and the identity of Regina. After young Helen Alving’s flight to him, Mr. Manders, fearful of his reputation, had never gone again to the Alving house. He is present now only to advise her about the business of the orphanage, but he proves a poor counselor. When the orphanage burns as the result of his snuffing a candle carelessly at prayer services and throwing it on a heap of shavings, his remorseful cry is, “And no insurance!” Manders, a self-righteous man, reproves Mrs. Alving for her liberal reading and unwise behavior and Oswald for his unconventional views, but he is completely taken in by the rascal Engstrand, who, Manders thinks, wants to reform. He pays Engstrand to assume blame for the orphanage fire.
Jacob Engstrand
Jacob Engstrand, a carpenter paid to marry Joanna, Regina’s mother. Engstrand is a drinking man of no consequence, a rascal. Regina thinks at first that it would be improper for her to live in his home, even though at the time she thinks of him as her father. Engstrand suggests the fatal prayer service at the orphanage and later claims to have seen the candle fall in the shavings. Because he uses the occasion to get the Alving money from Manders, he may be lying. For the reward of the money paid him, he gladly assumes responsibility for the fire.
Character Analysis
Mrs. Helena Alving
Mrs. Alving is the widow of Captain Alving, a highly regarded man in the community who passed away ten years ago. She is preparing to inaugurate an orphanage in his name to benefit the nearby town. When Pastor Manders criticizes her for not providing Oswald with sufficient moral guidance, he recalls that she left her husband during their first year of marriage but returned, after which everything seemed fine. This leads Mrs. Alving to reveal a long-kept secret: Captain Alving was a terrible man, unfaithful throughout their marriage. The orphanage is being funded with the money Captain Alving had when they married, while she plans to live off the income she generated from managing their investments. This, she hopes, will finally liberate her from any ties to him.
Throughout the play, Mrs. Alving's perspective on conventional morality shifts. She comes to believe that societal norms are deceptive and that she can shed all pretense by distancing herself from Captain Alving's memory, even while naming the orphanage after him. However, in the final act, her outlook changes dramatically. She begins to see herself not merely as a long-suffering victim of Captain Alving's hedonistic behavior but as someone who may have also wronged him.
Oswald Alving
Oswald, Mrs. Alving’s son, returns home the day before the play begins. He has been living in Paris, where his career as a painter has garnered enough success to be mentioned in the local Norwegian newspapers.
During Oswald's childhood, Mrs. Alving tried to shield him from his father's negative influence by sending him away to school at an early age. Oswald's only recollection of his father mentioned in the play is from when he was very young, sitting on Captain Alving's knee and being given a pipe to smoke. Pastor Manders is taken aback by how much Oswald resembles Captain Alving when he sees him smoking his father's pipe. Despite his mother's efforts, Oswald has grown to be quite similar to his father. He smokes, drinks, and engages in extramarital relationships. Shortly after Mrs. Alving confides in the pastor about her husband's affair with their maid, she discovers Oswald engaging in a similar relationship with their current maid.
Jacob Engstrand
In many respects, Engstrand mirrors the late Captain Alving, who is a frequent topic of conversation in the play despite having died ten years prior. Both men are drinkers and opportunists, willing to deceive to maintain their reputations in society.
Mrs. Alving has employed Jacob to work on the orphanage, and he intends to use his earnings to start a business in town. The purpose of the establishment evolves throughout the play. Initially, in the first act, Jacob refers to it as a "tavern" for sailors. However, by the last act, when he seeks financial support from the pastor, he describes it as a rest home for retired sailors, calling it "Captain Alving’s Home" and presenting it as a charitable institution. Ironically reflecting on both his and the unfaithful Captain Alving's immorality, he portrays the home as a place where "a man might feel under a father’s eye."
Regina Engstrand
Throughout the play, Regina's character transforms from a devoted servant in love with the master of the house to a cold manipulator. She is the first character to appear on stage. When Engstrand arrives, she expresses concern for Oswald, who is resting upstairs. Engstrand proposes that Regina join his plan to open a tavern, promising her financial gain and the chance to marry a wealthy man, or to be compensated by a rich man if she becomes pregnant. Regina is offended by this proposition. Later, when Mrs. Alving invites Regina to share champagne with her and Oswald at the end of Act II, Regina mistakenly believes she is being accepted as part of the family because she is to marry Oswald, unaware that she is actually Oswald’s sister.
In the final act, upon learning that she is Captain Alving's daughter, Regina immediately decides to leave. Her apparent concern for Oswald is revealed to be self-serving, based on what he could provide for her. Realizing that her ambitions cannot be fulfilled, she quickly abandons any pretense of care for him.
Pastor Manders
Throughout the play, Pastor Manders represents conventional morality, despite not fully believing in the actions that societal norms dictate. This is particularly evident in his hesitation over whether or not to insure the orphanage. He admits that he personally has no issue with insurance but fears it might cause a scandal among those who might interpret it as a lack of faith in God’s protection. His fear of scandal is so strong that he ultimately advises against insuring the building.
Reality isn't a primary concern for Pastor Manders. In Act II, when Mrs. Alving expresses regret for not informing Oswald about his father's disreputable past, Manders argues that it was more important to instill ideals in the boy than to tell him the truth. This preference for inner peace over factual understanding might explain why he vehemently denies the mutual attraction that Mrs. Alving claims they once had.
Pastor Manders prioritizes appearances over genuine moral conduct, making him an easy target for Engstrand. Engstrand addresses the pastor humbly as "your Reverence" and pretends to defer to Manders, while actually manipulating him. Due to his inability to recognize Engstrand's deceit, Manders genuinely believes that Engstrand has struggled against being a lazy drunkard, despite having no evidence other than Engstrand’s word. Ultimately, Manders even accepts Engstrand’s assertion that he saw him start the fire with a candle, despite not recalling holding a candle himself. Fearing the negative opinions that might arise from the incident, Manders abandons all his responsibilities in the town.
