# Mrs. Alving — Ghosts character guide

> Mrs. Alving in Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Helen Alving, Mrs. Helen Alving, Alving

**First appearance:** 0001-dramatis-personae

## Snapshot

A widow who has spent decades curating her late husband's saintly reputation, only to find the cost of that lie landing squarely on her son.

## Who they are

Mrs. Alving manages the estate, the orphanage endowment, and Pastor Manders' expectations with the same brisk competence — until Oswald walks through the door and the whole architecture of her respectable widowhood starts to buckle. She is a woman of real intelligence and appetite for life who chose duty over desire once and has been paying interest ever since. Her willingness to finally speak plainly about her marriage is what cracks the play open.

## Relationships

### [Pastor Manders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/pastor_manders)

_psychological_

Mrs. Alving is trapped in a web of guilt and manipulation by Pastor Manders, who enforces oppressive social and religious norms over her life.

### [Regina Engstrand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/regina_engstrand)

_family_

Mrs. Alving is Regina's biological mother, but she keeps this secret and treats her as a servant to protect her son Oswald from the truth.

### [Oswald Alving](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/oswald_alving)

_family_

Mrs. Alving is Oswald's devoted mother, but her lies about his father's debauchery and her own complicity lead to tragic consequences.

### [Captain Alving](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/captain_alving)

_family_

Captain Alving was Mrs. Alving's dissolute husband, whose hidden syphilis and infidelity destroyed their marriage and ultimately infected their son.

### [Johanna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/johanna)

_professional_

Johanna was Mrs. Alving's maid, and their relationship was strained by the secret that Johanna's daughter Regina was fathered by Captain Alving.

### [Jacob Engstrand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/jacob_engstrand)

_professional_

Jacob Engstrand is a carpenter who does odd jobs for Mrs. Alving, but he constantly tries to extort money from her using secrets about Regina.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters/mrs_alving
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ghosts_se/characters