Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Helene Alving

Mrs. Alving's journey is the one we follow throughout the course of the play. From her busy efforts to build a memorial that will bury her husband's memory once and for all, to her acceptance of Captain Alving and eventual release of all the old beliefs that had governed her behavior, we're rooting for her. She leaves the conformity of Pastor Manders behind and enters a terrifying, solitary freedom brought on by her son and his illness.