Sometimes a Ghost is Just a Ghost: Agnes and Spectrality in Henrik Ibsen’s Brand

Abstract

Abstract The article focuses on the ghost of Agnes in Henrik Ibsen’s play Brand (1866). Drawing upon different theoretical articulations of the so-called spectral turn, and most notably on Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology, the article studies the spectral manifestation of Agnes and how it affects our understanding of Ibsen’s play. Avoiding a metaphorical and/or psychological reading of spectral figures, which sees ghosts as projections of the minds of other characters, the article will concentrate instead on a “proper” or “material” ghost and study its spectrality. The article will therefore seek to answer the following research questions: what role does this seemingly secondary figure play in Ibsen’s dramatic poem? If one of the characters in Brand is in fact a ghost, what are the consequences for our interpretation of the play? In the course of the analysis, this article will show that these perspectives are especially related to the Christ-like status of the protagonist, Brand, and to Agnes’ agency.