Ilse Neumann ran away from home shortly before the events in 'Spring Awakening' took place. When Ilse was younger she spent most of her days playing Pirates with childhood friends, Wendla Bergmann, Melchior Gabor, and Moritz Stiefel. She lives in a colony of artists who are implied to sexually abuse her. On the surface she is the most liberated of the children as she is seemingly free of adult control. However, when examined further, it is clear she is mentally unstable and still being controlled by men in the artists colony who threaten and abuse her.