Research Project for Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen: Decor of Norway, 1875 - 1900

Décor of Norway: 1875 – 1900


I’m going to go into a little about the terrain, the climate, & the environment, so we get a sense of what it was like to live in Norway in 1875. The country is predominantly mountainous from North to South. At the base of the mountains were valleys that were pretty sparsely populated, & the valleys extended out into the fjords, which are called the arms of the sea. Fjords are deep inlets of water surrounded by large cliffs. (PICTURE) There was more community by the fjords because the weather there was not as cold as the rest of Norway, due to warm winds that came along the coast. The fjords became harbors, & this is where Ghosts takes place, besides a fjord.

In general, if you moved beyond the water, Norway was very spread out. Beyond the major towns, there were no villages, thus no real areas to congregate. It was also very dark between Oct & April. Oct gets 6 hours of light, January gets 0 – 1, & April gets 6. Conversely, between ...