The Story of Gösta Berling · Chapter
Christmas Eve explained
On Christmas Eve, the pensioners at Ekeby gather in the smithy and, in a moment of reckless revelry, Gösta Berling summons a devil figure to complete their number.
What happens
On Christmas Eve, the pensioners at Ekeby gather in the smithy and, in a moment of reckless revelry, Gösta Berling summons a devil figure to complete their number. The devil proposes a bargain: the seven estates of Ekeby in exchange for the soul of the major's wife. After initial resistance, Gösta agrees on modified terms—the estates for one year, during which the pensioners must behave as true gentlemen or forfeit their souls. The contract is signed in blood, and the pensioners celebrate wildly, ignoring the sacredness of the holy night.
Themes in this chapter
Duality of Human Nature
The pensioners oscillate between sacred reverence and profane revelry, summoning the devil on Christmas Eve while the angels sing.
Alcoholism and Escapism
The pensioners' drunken dance and contract with the devil represent their desperate escape from poverty and responsibility.
Fate and Free Will
Gösta Berling negotiates a year of freedom with the devil, attempting to control his own destiny through a pact.
Characters to notice
- Gösta Berling
Leads the summoning of the devil and negotiates the contract for the seven estates, insisting on gentlemanly conduct.
- Captain Christian Bergh
Initially confronts the devil with threats of the forge-hammer, then participates in the bargaining.
- Patron Julius
Cries out against the devil's offer to take the major's wife, insisting on taking the estates instead.
- Löwenborg
Gently asks for Gösta's opinion on the matter, deferring to his judgment.
- Beerencreutz
Invites the devil to a game of cards and joins in the wild dance around the kettle.
- Rutger von Örneclou
Talks to the devil of lovely women, contributing to the festive atmosphere.
Key passages
“It is madness, says Gösta Berling. Gentlemen, don’t let him make fools of you! What are you all against the major’s wife? It may fare as it will with our souls, but with my consent we will not be such ungrateful wretches as to act like rascals and traitors.”
Gösta calls the plan insane and warns the others not to be tricked, refusing to betray the major's wife regardless of the cost to their souls.
Gösta shows initial loyalty and moral hesitation before succumbing to the temptation.
“If you, therefore, will give us the seven estates for one year we will accept them; but remember that if we do anything during that time which is not worthy of a gentleman, if we do anything which is sensible, or useful, or effeminate, then you may take the whole twelve of us when the year is out.”
Gösta proposes a conditional bargain: the estates for one year, but if they act in any way ungentlemanly, the devil may claim all their souls.
The contract defines gentlemanly behavior as the opposite of sensible or useful, reflecting the pensioners' hedonistic code.
“Oh, pensioners, better had it been for you if you had spent this peaceful night quietly in your beds than to trouble the company with the Prince of Darkness.”
The narrator laments that the pensioners should have stayed in bed on this holy night instead of inviting the devil into their midst.
The narrative voice contrasts the sacredness of Christmas Eve with the pensioners' profane revelry.