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| Plot Summary of Ghosts |
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"Oswald returns home after decades of living in Paris. He's a painter, and in his return he reveals he's sick and needs caring. Mrs. Alving, his mother, is willing to do so, and she tells him stories about his father, Captain Alving, a hero of his town. In fact, Mrs. Alving is even building an orphanage in his memory, with the help of Mr. Manders, a priest.
But, as Mr. Manders soon discovers, Captain Alving was anything but a saint. Mrs. Alving reveals his husband's reputation was all her doing, hiding the Captain's drunken state, his laziness and being a ladies' man. He even had another child (with another woman), Regina, who is now caretaker of the Alving house.
And Oswald and Regina fall in love. Regina doesn't know he's ill, but Oswald thinks that Regina is the only woman who can heal him from his strange wounds made in Paris (almost certainly, a syphilitic inheritance from his father the Captain). Mrs. Alving and Manders are forced to tell them both the truth: Regina is angry at the revelation, feeling she should've been educated and raised as Alving's daughter and not a servant. Regina learns of Oswald's illness and is relieved she didn't marry him as first intended. She flees along with her father Engstrand, also an employee of the Alvings.
As he lays dying, Oswald wants euthanasia and gives his mother morphia tablets to do the job. She refuses at first, horrified, but then an epiphany strikes her, realizing that helping his son to pass away would be an act of mercy."
Augusto Wong Campos, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Ghosts |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Daughter
Family, caring for ill
Yes
Who is sick?
- Son
because he/she is
- physically ill
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- blue collar
Age:
- 60's-90's
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 2 ()
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Baltic States
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Is this a play?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- mostly dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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