Character of Oswald Alving

Oswald has a lot in common with Henrik Ibsen, the author of Ghosts.
Oswald is from Norway but lives in the South

(Paris). Ibsen lived in Rome for most of his life, though he continued to write about his homeland. He loathed what he
considered the small-minded and puritanical outlook of his countrymen – and they loathed him back, especially when
it came to Ghosts. Ibsen himself was an iconoclast, meaning he freely expressed his rejection of accepted ideas and
institutions. His spokesperson here is Oswald, a non-conformist and an artist struggling to defend his identity in the
hostile, judgmental environment of his home.
Oswald is a straight shooter. While Pastor Manders and Mrs. Alving often beat politely around the bush, Oswald says
what he means. In his first appearance, he chats with Manders for only a couple minutes before he’s speaking his
mind in defence of unconventional romantic relationships. He gets worked up as he recalls the hypocrite husbands
who treat artists’ quarters like they are brothels. Then he remembers where he is and apologizes: “Excuse me, Pastor:
I know you can’t take my point of view; but I couldn’t help speaking out”.
Oswald is also merciless with his mother. He rejects her maternal sentimentality. In Act 3, he’s just told her that a) he
doesn’t love his father, and b) he doesn’t love her. Oswald doesn’t accept the idea that just because he came from
Mrs. Alving’s womb he owes her something. There’s that rejecting-accepted- ideas thing again. He asks why should
love her? He didn’t grow up living with his parents, he doesn’t know them, and coming home is just depressing. He’d
rather be in Paris. When Mrs. Alving redoubles her efforts to win his heart, he asks her to stop talking about it, since
he has other things on his mind..
Oswald’s painfully honest communication style is appropriate to his function in the play. His return to home forces
Mrs. Alving to confront the truth of her life. She wants to bury her past – and by her past we mean the memory of her
alcoholic, philandering husband – but she just can’t. The past lives in the present. If she didn’t have her rose-coloured
maternal glasses on, she would recognize that fact when Oswald comes down smoking the pipe in Act 1. He’s Captain
Alving all over again, as Manders recognizes: “there is an expression about the corners of the mouth-something about
the lips – that reminds one exactly of Alving: at any rate, now that he is smoking”.
If Pastor Manders is the representative of law, order, and society, Oswald is the representative of unruly life and
passion. Joie de Vivre. The Joy of Life, or Livsglede in Dano-Norwegian. Personal freedom. Choosing your destiny.
When Oswald paints a picture of this free, happy life, Mrs. Alving suddenly understands what her husband lacked,
why he went so far downhill in the gloomy, duty-bound life of the North. He was suffocated and paralyzed – and under
her control.
No one ever says the word “syphilis” in this play, but that’s what Oswald’s got. It’s a sexually transmitted disease that
can also pass from a mother to a baby. It doesn’t make sound medical sense that Oswald got it from his father – but
Ibsen is most interested in the metaphor: “The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children”. The kind of syphilis
Oswald seems to have is “tertiary” or “latent” syphilis. It’s been dormant in his body and is just emerging, causing the
headaches and fatigue he complains about. Untreated (or treated too late), it can result in serious organ and nerve
damage, paralysis, muscle deterioration, blindness, and dementia. Oswald is more colourful in his description of the
illness; his doctor calls it “a sort of softening of the brain – or something like that. [Smiles sadly.] I think that
expression sounds so nice. It always sets me thinking of cherry-coloured velvet – something soft and delicate to
stroke”. Oswald’s decline means that Mrs. Alving has to let go of the final “ghost” in her life- her attachment to her
son.

Character of Oswald Alving

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Character of Oswald Alving

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Oswald has a lot in common with Henrik Ibsen, the author of Ghosts.

Oswald is from Norway but lives in the South

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