Q. I. Con une nt on the sus pen se-e ndi ng of the play Gl,o sts.

Ans. /\ris toh.'lin n lo~ir, whi ch discusses C'lcrncnts of

trag edy inc lud ing
tr~gk n,is takl ', rt·cn~nilion, t1nd reversal, would stru ggl e
to categorically define
1lenrik lbsl•n'~ piny Clwsts as lrngic, becnusc of its amb
igu ous end ing . After the
<'t1rlain fnll~ on the final scene, it is unclear exactly wha
t tran spir es in the lives
of the stor y's pro tag oni sts. The que stio n of exactly wh
at Mrs. Alv ing doe s
with the 1norphinc pills Osw ald had asked her to give him
sho uld his disease
nttnck his bra in, is un ope n-e nde d one. 1 here are a few
possibilities as to the
ultimate out com e for the characters, and clearly Ibsen kne
w wh at he was doi ng
when he left his piny see min gly unf inis hed , wit h one
of its mo re pre ssing
questions unn nsw ere d. Were one to examine just wha t thes
e possibilities n1ight
be, one wou ld hav e to kee p in n1ind the clem ents of Mrs
. Alv ing 's character,
and her bac kgr oun d, whi ch wou ld invariably influence
her ulti mat e decisior
concerning wh eth er or not to adm inis ter the mo rph ine
to her son and his lifE
as he'd req ues ted.
One of the mo re pre dict able outcomes wou ld be for Mrs
. Alv ing to sim pl)
give her son the mo rph ine , as he had asked her. Ove rco
me by the syp hili s tha
had slowly rav age d his min d and bod y since his chi
ldh ood , Osw ald by th,
end of the pla y has deg ene rate d and wou ld hav e no pur
pos e left in life, excep
possibly to bec om e a bur den to his mother. Mrs. Alv ing
cou ld eas ily give hin
the pills and pain less ly end his suffering at last. In add
itio n, she cou ld in
way, end her ow n suf feri ng, bec aus e Os\ \ Llld wo uld
hav e bee n her las
ghost. .. the last tie to pain ful mem orie s and sor row ful
rem ain der s of a life sh
would hav e pre ferr ed to hav e led differently. Wit h Osw
ald 's dea th, she cou l,
begin aga in, hav ing sev ere d the hol d the pas t had on
her. ·
The sec ond pos sibi lity is tha t Mrs. Alv ing cou ld do just • the opp osit e, th,
is, wit hho ld the mo rph ine from Osw ald. He wo uld n't hav
e rea lize d it, bec auE
his min d wo uld hav e cea sed to function nor mal ly at
tha t poi nt. It's enti rel
likely tha t as a mo ther , Mrs. Alving wou ldn 't be able to
kill her ow n son , eve
though he no lon ger rese mb led her child.
But mo re dra mat ical ly intr igu ing and per ple xin g end
ing wo uld be if sr
took the pill s her self and end ed her ow n life. Tha t way
, she wo uld n't hav e 1
worry abo ut her des titu tion afte r losi ng eve ryth ing in
the orp han age fire, n<
would she nee d con cer n her self wit h tak ing care of her
dyi ng son . She wou l
have not tak en car e of the gho sts tha t had hau nte d her
for so lon g, but sl
~ou ld hav e em pow ere d her self in one final act def ianc
e aga inst a society and
hfe that had tiod her dow n and stifled her for so ma ny
yea rs.