International Baccalaureate – Theatre Studies: Director´s Notebook
“Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen
Candidate number: jlg007
,Table of Contents
SECTION A: The play text, its context and the ideas presented in the play ........ 3
Social and economic context of Ghosts ................................................................. 3
Gender roles in the nineteenth century Norwegian society .................................. 3
Ibsen´s influences on Ghosts................................................................................... 3
Reception of Ghosts and its impact on the audience ............................................ 3
The plot of the play .................................................................................................... 4
Main ideas of the play ............................................................................................... 4
SECTION B: My artistic responses, creative ideas and explorations and my own
experiences of live theatre as a spectator .............................................................. 5
Initial responses of the play ..................................................................................... 6
Exploration of key characters and possible directorial decisions ....................... 6
Moodboard ................................................................................................................. 8
Related media ............................................................................................................ 9
Live theatre productions ........................................................................................... 9
Staging potential...................................................................................................... 11
SECTION C: My directorial intentions and the intended impact on the audience12
Impact on audience ................................................................................................. 12
Staging...................................................................................................................... 13
Lighting and sound ................................................................................................. 15
Characters and costumes ....................................................................................... 16
SECTION D: How I would stage two moments of the play .................................. 19
Moment 1 .................................................................................................................. 19
Moment 2 .................................................................................................................. 21
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 23
, SECTION A: The play text, its context and the ideas presented in the play
Ghosts was written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in the autumn of 1881 in Rome and was
published in Copenhagen on 13 December of the same year (Moses, 1920). Ibsen is often referred
to as the “father of modern drama” (Saleh, 2011).
Social and economic context of Ghosts
The nineteenth century was a period of many changes in the social and economic structures of
Norway, which were caused by the Industrial Revolution, and it strongly influenced the writing of
Ghosts. It led the country to experience a great economic boom in which the economy flourished, the
population grew, and nationalism prevailed (Lambert, 2020). Industrial development also led to the
creation of a new middle upper class in Norway, which became increasingly obsessed with what is
commonly termed as “bourgeois respectability” (Singh, 2020). It included “financial success without
debt, upward social mobility, good moral judgement, and a strong, secure patriarchal marriage” (Jiffy
Notes).
Gender roles in the nineteenth century Norwegian society
The nineteenth century Norwegian society supported and reinforced the patriarchal idea within
marriage, leading gender roles to be extremely fixed and thus causing husbands to be the head of
the household. The upper middle class were expected to employ nurses and maids to perform
domestic chores, leading women´s only duty to just be wives and mothers. Marriage laws correlated
with the ideology of the patriarchal structure, prohibiting women from owning poverty and allowing
men to retain everything in the case of a divorce -including full rights to any children-. Women were
not allowed to vote, nor hold political opinions and it was not common for them to work. Furthermore,
they were not allowed access to higher education until 1882 and did not gain the ability to control their
own wealth until the 1890s (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ).
Ibsen´s influences on Ghosts
This position of women in society therefore heavily influenced the making of the characters of Ghosts
and the play itself. Ibsen was very aware of how unjustly women were being treated in the male
dominated society of the 19th century and did not tolerate it. He believed that women were just as
capable as men and deserved equal rights, as well as financial independence. In his plays, Ibsen
believed it was necessary to portray women who were independent, authentic, strong, smart and
capable of breaking away from the patriarchal social framework. An example of a powerful female
character created by Ibsen is Nora from A Doll´s House, a play written just 2 years before Ghosts,
who decides to leave her marriage and family in order to find herself and create her own identity. The
play as a whole received a lot of negative criticism as society members considered Nora to be crazy
for leaving her family.
What also influenced the writing of Ghosts was the lack of morality and the hypocrisy of people living
in the Scandinavian countries at the time. Ibsen felt as though all they cared about was reputation
and would do anything –even if it was immoral– to maintain a good, reputable image, causing them
to live in a façade.
Reception of Ghosts and its impact on the audience
Ibsen anticipated the reception of Ghosts: "It is reasonable to suppose that Ghosts will cause alarm
in some circles; but so, it must be. If it did not do so, it would not have been necessary to write it."
Furthermore, Ibsen wrote to Schandorph, a Danish novelist that he was “quite prepared for the
hubbub” and believed that the “Scandinavian reviewers have no talent for anything else, they have
an unquestionable talent for thoroughly misunderstanding and misinterpreting those authors whose
books they undertake to judge”. In 1898, the King of Norway and Sweden told Ibsen that Ghosts was
not a good play, and Ibsen responded, “Your Majesty, I had to write Ghosts” (Eyre, 2013). Ibsen was
attacked from all sides, the conservative press blasted his work and the liberalist press who defended
Ibsen in the past, also turned against him. This latter made Ibsen realize the true nature of Norwegian
Liberalism as the so-called Liberals were actually extremely close-minded, and he came to the
conclusion that “Norway is a free country, peopled by unfree men and women” (Henrik Ibsen, 1905).
“Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen
Candidate number: jlg007
,Table of Contents
SECTION A: The play text, its context and the ideas presented in the play ........ 3
Social and economic context of Ghosts ................................................................. 3
Gender roles in the nineteenth century Norwegian society .................................. 3
Ibsen´s influences on Ghosts................................................................................... 3
Reception of Ghosts and its impact on the audience ............................................ 3
The plot of the play .................................................................................................... 4
Main ideas of the play ............................................................................................... 4
SECTION B: My artistic responses, creative ideas and explorations and my own
experiences of live theatre as a spectator .............................................................. 5
Initial responses of the play ..................................................................................... 6
Exploration of key characters and possible directorial decisions ....................... 6
Moodboard ................................................................................................................. 8
Related media ............................................................................................................ 9
Live theatre productions ........................................................................................... 9
Staging potential...................................................................................................... 11
SECTION C: My directorial intentions and the intended impact on the audience12
Impact on audience ................................................................................................. 12
Staging...................................................................................................................... 13
Lighting and sound ................................................................................................. 15
Characters and costumes ....................................................................................... 16
SECTION D: How I would stage two moments of the play .................................. 19
Moment 1 .................................................................................................................. 19
Moment 2 .................................................................................................................. 21
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 23
, SECTION A: The play text, its context and the ideas presented in the play
Ghosts was written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in the autumn of 1881 in Rome and was
published in Copenhagen on 13 December of the same year (Moses, 1920). Ibsen is often referred
to as the “father of modern drama” (Saleh, 2011).
Social and economic context of Ghosts
The nineteenth century was a period of many changes in the social and economic structures of
Norway, which were caused by the Industrial Revolution, and it strongly influenced the writing of
Ghosts. It led the country to experience a great economic boom in which the economy flourished, the
population grew, and nationalism prevailed (Lambert, 2020). Industrial development also led to the
creation of a new middle upper class in Norway, which became increasingly obsessed with what is
commonly termed as “bourgeois respectability” (Singh, 2020). It included “financial success without
debt, upward social mobility, good moral judgement, and a strong, secure patriarchal marriage” (Jiffy
Notes).
Gender roles in the nineteenth century Norwegian society
The nineteenth century Norwegian society supported and reinforced the patriarchal idea within
marriage, leading gender roles to be extremely fixed and thus causing husbands to be the head of
the household. The upper middle class were expected to employ nurses and maids to perform
domestic chores, leading women´s only duty to just be wives and mothers. Marriage laws correlated
with the ideology of the patriarchal structure, prohibiting women from owning poverty and allowing
men to retain everything in the case of a divorce -including full rights to any children-. Women were
not allowed to vote, nor hold political opinions and it was not common for them to work. Furthermore,
they were not allowed access to higher education until 1882 and did not gain the ability to control their
own wealth until the 1890s (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ).
Ibsen´s influences on Ghosts
This position of women in society therefore heavily influenced the making of the characters of Ghosts
and the play itself. Ibsen was very aware of how unjustly women were being treated in the male
dominated society of the 19th century and did not tolerate it. He believed that women were just as
capable as men and deserved equal rights, as well as financial independence. In his plays, Ibsen
believed it was necessary to portray women who were independent, authentic, strong, smart and
capable of breaking away from the patriarchal social framework. An example of a powerful female
character created by Ibsen is Nora from A Doll´s House, a play written just 2 years before Ghosts,
who decides to leave her marriage and family in order to find herself and create her own identity. The
play as a whole received a lot of negative criticism as society members considered Nora to be crazy
for leaving her family.
What also influenced the writing of Ghosts was the lack of morality and the hypocrisy of people living
in the Scandinavian countries at the time. Ibsen felt as though all they cared about was reputation
and would do anything –even if it was immoral– to maintain a good, reputable image, causing them
to live in a façade.
Reception of Ghosts and its impact on the audience
Ibsen anticipated the reception of Ghosts: "It is reasonable to suppose that Ghosts will cause alarm
in some circles; but so, it must be. If it did not do so, it would not have been necessary to write it."
Furthermore, Ibsen wrote to Schandorph, a Danish novelist that he was “quite prepared for the
hubbub” and believed that the “Scandinavian reviewers have no talent for anything else, they have
an unquestionable talent for thoroughly misunderstanding and misinterpreting those authors whose
books they undertake to judge”. In 1898, the King of Norway and Sweden told Ibsen that Ghosts was
not a good play, and Ibsen responded, “Your Majesty, I had to write Ghosts” (Eyre, 2013). Ibsen was
attacked from all sides, the conservative press blasted his work and the liberalist press who defended
Ibsen in the past, also turned against him. This latter made Ibsen realize the true nature of Norwegian
Liberalism as the so-called Liberals were actually extremely close-minded, and he came to the
conclusion that “Norway is a free country, peopled by unfree men and women” (Henrik Ibsen, 1905).
