Monologue

Manders Monologue from Ghosts

From Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen

male · philosophical · 2:11 min

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I was but a poor instrument in a Higher Hand. And what a blessing has it not proved to you, all the days of your life, that I induced you to resume the yoke of duty and obedience! Did not everything happen as I foretold? Did not Alving turn his back on his errors, as a man should? Did he not live with you from that time, lovingly and blamelessly, all his days? Did he not become a benefactor to the whole district? And did he not help you to rise to his own level, so that you, little by little, became his assistant in all his undertakings? And a capital assistant, too--oh, I know, Mrs. Alving, that praise is due to you.--But now I come to the next great error in your life. (MRS. ALVING: What do you mean?) Just as you once disowned a wife's duty, so you have since disowned a mother's. (MRS. ALVING: Ah--!) You have been all your life under the dominion of a pestilent spirit of self-will. The whole bias of your mind has been towards insubordination and lawlessness. You have never known how to endure any bond. Everything that has weighed upon you in life you have cast away without care or conscience, like a burden you were free to throw off at will. It did not please you to be a wife any longer, and you left your husband. You found it troublesome to be a mother, and you sent your child forth among strangers.

About this piece

Manders reflects on his influence over Mrs. Alving's life choices, expressing a sense of pride in the outcomes while hinting at underlying errors in judgment.

40s · trust · duty · redemption · power · family

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