Jakob Engstrand tries to convince his supposed daughter Regina to come work at the sailors' establishment he wants to open, but she is too proud of her job as Mrs. Alving's maid to do so. Pastor Manders leaves and enters. The Pastor tries to convince Regina to help her father, while she pesters him into seeking a position for her somewhere in high society. She leaves and Mrs. Alving enters. Oswald, Mrs. Alving's son, comes downstairs. He has been traveling in Europe since he was young and has not been home in years. He and the pastor fight to live outside of marriage. He leaves and Pastor admonishes Mrs. Alving for allowing her son to grow up that way. She also blames her for leaving her husband once. Ms. Alving responds that her husband made her miserable and sent her son away to save him from her husband's debauchery. She even admits to the pastor that Regina is the love daughter of her husband and his former maid, Johanna. When dinner is about to start, the two hear a scream from the kitchen. Oswald is apparently making headway on Regina. After dinner, the pastor and Mrs. Alving discuss this strange development. The Pastor realizes that Oswald is furious at Engstrand for never telling him the truth about Regina. Engstrand walks in and suggests that the pastor hold a prayer meeting at the orphanage. The pastor interrogates him, and Engstrand convinces him that it was only to save Johanna's reputation that he kept the truth from him. Engstrand and the pastor left, and Mrs. Alving goes to talk to her son. Oswald is drinking. He wants to tell you the truth about his father. He tells him about the illness he suffers. A doctor in Paris diagnosed him by saying that the sins of the father visit the son. He continues to complain about the misery and hypocrisy of sad Norway, contrasting it with the joie de vivre. Mrs. Alving is about to tell him and Regina the truth, but then they notice that the orphanage has caught fire.