2006-11-23 06:05:58 · 2 answers · asked by Aled H 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Theater & Acting
At the time, the mere mention of venereal disease was scandalous, but to show that even a person who followed society's ideals of morality had no protection against it was beyond scandalous. Hers was not the noble life which Victorians believed would result from fulfilling one's duty rather than following one's desires. Those idealized beliefs were only the "ghosts" of the past, haunting the present.
The production of Ghosts scandalised Norwegian society of the day and Ibsen was strongly criticised; he turned his own feelings about the matter into the subject matter for the play An Enemy of the People. In 1898 when Ibsen was presented to King Oscar II of Sweden, at a dinner in Ibsen's honour, the King told Ibsen that Ghosts was not a good play. After a pause, Ibsen exploded "Your Majesty, I had to write Ghosts!".
www.wikipedia.com
2006-11-23 06:10:58 · answer #1 · answered by Trish 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, it was pretty scandalous stuff. I believe that a famous critic of the day took Ibsen to task for having dared to put this "open sewer" on the stage...
2006-11-24 06:54:04 · answer #2 · answered by shkspr 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋