The Ghost Sonata

The Ghost Sonata (1907) by seminal Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912) follows a young man’s increasing realization of the world’s wickedness. Strindberg was a key contributor to the style of expressionist art. He completed over 60 plays during his lifetime, and The Ghost Sonata remains an innovative play for its unique dialogue, staging, and subject matter. Its themes include supernaturalism, intergenerational crime, guilt, deception and social masks. The Ghost Sonata is a one act play in three scenes; it is considered a chamber play because of its limited cast and small staging space required. These forms were popular in the early 20th century and may reflect the increasing anxiety around global politics.

It opens in Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Arkenholz, a young and idealistic student, wonders (almost enviously) about the rich people living in an opulent building. He’s always wanted to live in a building like that and with a beautiful wife, like  the Colonel’s Daughter, whom he spots in the window. Arkenholz has a good heart, and first appears on stage very dirty, having just taken part in the rescue effort of a collapsed building.

An old man who uses a wheelchair, Director Jacob Hummel, spots Arkenholz drinking from a city fountain. He recognizes the young man as the son of a business associate whose lifesavings he basically stole. Arkenholz recognizes Hummel, too, and the briefly argue. Hummel insists on having nothing to do with Arkenholz’s father’s bankruptcy. Arkenholz is embarrassed by his family’s loss of fortune, and apologizes for lashing out at Hummel.



Hummel claims that he can find the young man a good job through the Colonel, who happens to live in the fancy building Arkenholz was admiring. For a (currently) unclear reason, Hummel wants entrance into the building and needs Arkenholz to gain admittance. Arkenholz talks to The Milkmaid, who happens to be a ghost. Hummel is shocked by this, concluding that Arkenholz is a “Sunday Child”—someone who can see ghosts.

Hummel arranges for Arkenholz to attend the opera where he will sit near one of the prominent families who lives in the luxury building. This action takes place off stage. The next two scenes are set inside the building. In an allusion to Virgil leading Dante through Hell in Inferno, Hummel gives a tour of the house to Arkenholz. Arkenholz learns that the upper class residents live on the top level, the middle class on the first floor, and the lower classes in the basement. From the outside, the apartment building appeared to be respectable, but inside, the house is rife with misery. Still, the poor wait outside the house, crying out to be let in.

All of the people living in the apartment are connected, often due to some act of deceit. For instance, the Colonel, who lives on the top floor, once seduced the attractive wife of the Superintendent, who lives in the basement. Arkenholz sees the Colonel’s Wife, who is “mad” after living in a cupboard for the past 40 years. She makes parrot noises all days. Everyone, including the servants Bengttson and Johanson, refers to her as the Mummy.



Hummel demands to see the Colonel. In the process, he’s shocked to see the Colonel’s Wife in her current state, as she used to be quite beautiful. She asks him why he’s come back to the house, and he says for the Colonel’s Daughter. When the Colonel appears, Hummel, who is used to destroying lives, eviscerates his status and family name. The Colonel is defenseless against the accusations. He did indeed have an affair with the Superintendent’s Wife.

A dinner is arranged and Arkenholz is invited. Hummel claims that he brought the young Arkenholz into the house to restore justice for the Colonel’s Daughter, who has been battling depression. He believes that the cheerful glow of Arkenholz can revitalize her—if the two were even to get married, he wouldn’t complain. The Colonel’s Daughter is severely depressed and wishes to die. Hummel blames her sad fate on the various people gathered at the table. He also wants the younger generation to see the world’s current sins and work toward a brighter future. Yet Hummel, for all his supposed-goodness, is not so innocent.

Hummel is called out by the Colonel’s Wife. She reveals that Hummel tried to seduce her.  Bengttson says Hummel murdered a woman in the past, and that this the woman was the Milkmaid, whose ghost Arkenholz saw. The Colonel’s Wife claims that Hummel also wants to seduce her daughter, which is especially twisted as the Colonel’s Daughter is actually his own daughter. Confronted with crimes that he cannot deny, Hummel writhes on the floor in guilt. He crawls toward the cupboard that once housed the Colonel’s Wife, starts making parrot noises, and is covered with a “death screen.”



Arkenholz falls in love with the  daughter. Though her joie de vivre is seemingly sapped, and she passes most of her time playing melancholic tunes on the harp, Arkenholz wants to take her away from this sinful house so she can lead a happy life elsewhere. However, she declines. She is convinced she is doomed to die in misery. Arkenholz realizes that the house he admired from afar is actually a form of Hell. Residents, if they’re ever to achieve absolution for their sins, must suffer and die. Even innocent people, such as the Milkmaid and the Colonel’s Daughter, are punished because of the misdeeds of others.

The play concludes with the Colonel’s Daughter dying. Arkenholz is furious at the world he’s found himself in, and prays she will have a better life after death.