Monologue

Mrs Alving Monologue from Ghosts

From Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen

female · philosophical · 1:22 min

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Let me tell you what I mean. I am timid and faint-hearted because of the ghosts that hang about me, and that I can never quite shake off. (MANDERS: What do you say hangs about you?) Ghosts! When I heard Regina and Oswald in there, it was as though ghosts rose up before me. But I almost think we are all of us ghosts, Pastor Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that "walks" in us. It is all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all the country over, as thick as the sands of the sea. And then we are, one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light.

About this piece

Mrs. Alving reflects on the haunting presence of past beliefs and inherited traits while observing her son and Regina, revealing her deep-seated fears and the pervasive influence of societal expectations.

40s · fear · death · identity · isolation · belief

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Run it out loud with a spotlight that follows your voice, line by line, until it's off the page. Free to start, no credit card.

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