Ghost: Social Realism

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Ghosts: A Social Realism In order to comment or criticize realism dramas, it is necessary to know them. Realism dramas are in many ways the same as dramas today. In fact, it is safe to say that realism dramas are the pioneer of modern drama. Ghosts by Ibsen has two main ideas: (1) all forms of life have developed gradually from a common ancestry; and (2) the evolution of species is explained by the “survival of the fittest.” Heredity and environment are the determinants of existence. Secondly, heredity and environment become explanations for all character traits and actions. Since behavior is determined by factors beyond the individual’s control, he can’t be blamed for it. These impacts are represented in many ways in Ibsen’s work. The characters in Ghosts are a good example of how characters create a social reality. Ghosts tells a story about a young man named Osvald, the son of the Alvings. Osvald has just come back home from his life abroad in France. His father, Mr. Alving, has just died and he wanted to be a part of the ceremony his mother, Hrs. Helena Alving, was preparing to give in honor for her husband. Once Osvald is home, he decides to move back home with his mother and their servant. Osvald’s willing scorned Mrs. Alving. She was the only one who encouraged him to go abroad and trusted that is was not good for young Osvald to stay at home due to her husband and lived in fear he would inherit her husband’s illness- syphills, and so she sent Osvald abroad at the age of 7. Helen Alving is about to dedicate an orphanage she has built in the memory of her dead husband. She reveals to her spiritual advisor, Pastor Manders, that she has hidden the evils of her marriage, and has built the orphanage to deplete her husband’s wealth so that their son Oswald, might not inherit anything from his father. Pastor Manders had previously advised her to

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