The Great Divorce

Chapter 10 dwells on one particular Ghost-Spirit interaction. The relationship between them is never defined, but the Ghost refers to the Spirit as “Hilda,” and Hilda clearly knew both the Ghost and the Ghost’s husband, Robert. The Ghost considers herself to have been greatly burdened by Robert because he had no ambition and a crowd of shiftless friends. As she continues talking, however, it becomes clear that she herself was a burden, constantly haranguing Robert to improve himself—to climb higher in his job, to buy the two of them a nicer house, to fill the house with possessions they could not truly afford, and to give up all his friends.

She is miserable in the Grey Town, where there is no one to “alter” or “do things to” (95). She desperately pleads to enter Heaven so she can reunite with Robert and resume ordering him around. At the end of her frantic monologue, she suddenly evaporates: “A sour, dry smell lingered in the air for a moment and then there was no Ghost to be seen” (95).