In Ibsen's Ghost, Some Critics have called Mrs Alving selfless and altruistic, others have considered her primarily self centred. What is your view point?

"I always felt that the truth must come out one day, and that everyone would believe it. The orphanage was to refute all the rumours and dispel any doubts"

This is the first piece of evidence that proves Mrs Alving is only building the orphanage to preserve her late husbands reputation in case the truth about his life does become public. Building an orphanage in Mr Alving's name seems to reinforce his existing strong and forthright image and it changes people's perceptions about any rumours they might have heard about his life. In the eyes of the public, the orphanage becomes a scapegoat for the sins of Mr Alving. It seems that Mrs Alving is very logical and insightful when planning this but although the orphanage will preserve her husbands reputation it does not really affect her in any. Even if Mrs Alving is building the orphanage to solve her own personal insecurities I believe this should not matter because an orphanage is still being built, and egocentric or not it will still be aiding the community and benefiting many children who need the help.

The insurance issue can also prove that Mrs Alving is not entirely self-centred because in deciding to leave the building un-insured she is not securing her monetary input. Through her decision (although fuelled heavily by the Pastor she is easily persuaded) we can see that she is unconcerned about losing money and therefore not self-centred because she is keen to forget about her husband's money. But even a simple issue such as insurance still boils down to image, which seems to be very important in "ghosts", by not insuring the property the public...

"Might so very easily come to the conclusion that neither you nor I had a proper trust in Divine Providence"

Aside from the orphanage Mrs Alving's method of dealing with her son also shows signs of good will and selflessness. Mrs Alving changes and almost becomes a different personality when her son enters the rooms, she beams with pleasure and it seems that Oswald is the only thing that makes Mrs Alving happy. It seems that in the gloomy and depressive atmosphere of the house the legacy of Mr Alving lives on, with the ceaseless rain creating an almost sombre mood in the house, Oswald is the solitary thing that can bring the joy of life to Mrs Alving.

Mrs Alving sacrificed her son and therefore her own happiness to prevent her child from becoming like his father. Whether Mrs Alving's decision to send the child away from the house until its father died away from the house was a charitable decision is debatable because irrespectively whether the action was positive on the child's upbringing, Oswald had no say in the matter. Despite imposing her own will upon all those around her I believe that Mrs Alving didn't want anybody to live through what she lived through with Mr Alving so that is why she sent Oswald away. This may have been an almost paranoid or obsessive reaction but it was definitely selfless because for a mother to voluntarily give up her child for its own sake is an almost impossible feat for most mothers, and it must have been a huge sacrifice for Mrs Alving.

The fact that after all she has been through, Mrs Alving is prepared to throw away all her apparently iron cast fundamental doctrines to let Oswald pursue happiness in the form of Regina despite the issues that could be raised is the final pivot of the argument that Mrs Alving is not egocentric and cares only about her son. Even if Mrs Alving lives her life through others because it makes her feel better, she is still helping others, which proves her altruism. I believe that if someone gives to others because it makes them feel better, that does not make that person selfish. Others are benefiting from their charity, regardless of the reasons behind it and because of this I believe that Mrs Alving is benevolent in upbringing her family and in helping the community.

C.Tabisz 12/10/00 1

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