WANGEL.
How was the water today – nice and fresh?

ELLIDA.
Fresh? Good heavens, the water’s never fresh here – it’s dull and tepid. Ugh, here in the fjords the water is sluggish. (..) And I believe it makes us sluggish, too.

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From Act IV

ELLIDA.
Wangel, let me tell you, say it while he can hear it. I know that you can keep me here, and no doubt you will. But there’s my MIND – all my thoughts and longings and desires – you have no hold over them. They will always reach out and yearn for the unknown that I was created for, and that you have kept me from.

Transl. by Peter Watt.

Doctor Wangel lives in a small coastal town with his much younger wife Ellida and his two daughters from a former marriage. Ellida has suffered from depression and imbalance since they lost their newborn baby, and her relationship with her step-daughters is poor. She is the daughter of a light-house keeper. In her youth she was engaged to a sailor with a strange personality, who left after making her swear eternal fidelity to him. She has always felt guilty for breaking her promise, even though he most probably has died long ago. When the mysterious sailor suddenly reappears and asks her to come with him as promised, Ellida feels that he represents the wild and unknown that has always carried a strange attraction for her. But she is afraid, too. Doctor Wangel tries to hold her back, but Ellida declares that he will never be able to keep her mind by force. When Wangel finally gives her the freedom to make her own choice, she realizes that she belongs with him. And the stranger leaves.