Act 5, Scene 2 Summary

Brand urges the villagers, including the Sexton and the Schoolmaster, to follow him further into the mountains. The pleas of several villagers for food, water and rest only inspire him to urge them on more insistently. When they ask how long their journey will be and what rewards lie ahead, he loses his temper and speaks at very angry length about how they must sacrifice everything, even their lives. They shout that he has betrayed them, but Brand says he has merely kept his word, saying again that only complete surrender to the pursuit will bring them to the truth. As the villagers debate whether to kill him, the Dean appears and urges them to return home, saying they'll be forgiven for abandoning their lives. As he speaks of how they have stepped beyond the bounds and logic of their world...