Ghosts Resources

Websites

Ibsen.net

The place to go for all things Ibsen: biography, pictures, current productions, production history, etc. It's awesome.

Ibsen Voyages

Features the articles of renowned Ibsen translator and scholar Brian Johnston, whose teaching influenced this module a good deal.

Fjords

Check it out. This is where Mrs. Alving lives. Beautiful but pretty austere.

Syphilis

All you need to know about the sexually transmitted disease that Oswald and Captain Alving suffered from.

Norway

More about Ibsen's turf.

Movie or TV Productions

Ghosts, 1981

The 1981 BBC production with Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh. Check it out as part of the Henrik Ibsen Collection available here:

Gespenster, 1966

A West German version.

Winter Light, 1966

If you want to get in a good Scandinavian groove – and get to know a provincial priest much like Pastor Manders – watch this wonderful Ingmar Bergman film. Just watch any Ingmar Bergman film. The guy's a genius.

Historical Documents

Review by Emma Goldman

Of course the famous anarchist dug this play. Check out her 1914 review here.

Manuscript Title Page

Written in the hand of the man himself.

Letter to Hegel

More of Ibsen's penmanship. He's writing to his publisher to predict the furor that Ghosts will provoke. It may be worth learning Norwegian for this. Let us know.

Video

Excerpt from 1986 Film

Check out part of Act 3. Judi Dench has amazing eyebrows.

Gespenster Trailer

Gespenster is the German title for Ghosts. You don't have to speak German to enjoy this cool trailer and think about the play in a different way. Mrs. Alving is super-sexy, as is Pastor Manders, Oswald's not that attractive. You'll recognize the round table in this minimalist set.

Choreographer Cathy Marston's Adaptation of Ghosts

If you're into dance, check out this trailer and pick out who's who.

Norwegian Landscape

Wow, it's gorgeous there. Take a look.

Stella Adler on Ibsen

The great acting teacher talks about her approach to Ibsen. You might just want to get her terrific book, Stella Adler on Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov.

Audio

Solveig's Song
Edvard Grieg was a fellow Norwegian and collaborator of Ibsen's. He wrote songs for Peer Gynt and other poems. This gorgeous song is from Peer Gynt and sung by Lucia Popp.

Images

Ibsen in 1878

Ibsen just a couple of years before Ghosts came out.

Ibsen in 1888

A few years after Ghosts came out. Nasty critics will turn your hair white.

Ibsen on his deathbed (1906)

Yeah, it's a little dark, but Ibsen was a dark guy.

Henrik Ibsen's Juleklap

An 1881 cartoon depicting the response to Ghosts. Lots of other great cartoons on this site.

Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916)

This Danish painter was a contemporary of Ibsen's. Checking out some of his paintings may give you an idea of how the Scandinavian world looked at that time.