Discussion Topic
The significance and importance of the wild duck in Ibsen's The Wild Duck
Summary:
The wild duck in Ibsen's The Wild Duck symbolizes the complexity of truth and illusion. It represents the characters' struggles with reality and their coping mechanisms, illustrating the impact of hidden truths on personal relationships and individual psyches. The duck's entrapment parallels the characters' entanglement in lies and self-deception, highlighting the central themes of the play.
What is the importance of the title in The Wild Duck?
Henrik Ibsen entered a new symbolic phase in play writing when he penned The Wild Duck. The wild duck was shot by Hakon Werle who gave it to Hedvig Ekdal for a pet. When the duck was shot, it went to the bottom of the lake and would have been caught there if Hakron Werle's dog hadn't rescued it, thus allowing it a new life of luxury and love as Hedvig's beloved pet. Gregars Werle, Hakron's slightly arrogant and meddlesome son, found out that there is some confusion about Hedvig Ekdal's parentage. Her mother is clearly Gina Ekdal but her father could be Hakron Werle or Hjalmar Ekdal.
Gregers fancies himself the beneficent hunter who is going to shoot the Wild Duck Ekdal Family down with the truth of Hedvig's uncertain parentage and then, after raising them from the mud at the bottom of the metaphoric lake by offering...
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them the freedom of truth (a Biblicalallusion to the oft misused "and the truth shall set you free"), lead them to a new life of luxurious happiness and unhampered love. He miscalculates, of course, because Hedvig takes her own life. The title reflects the many levels at which the characters' lives resemble that of a wild duck shot down and stuck in the mud, some of which may be saved, some of which may not.
What is the significance of the wild duck in Ibsen's The Wild Duck?
The duck in Ibsen's The Wild Duck is a complex symbol. This is the
first play in which Henrik Ibsen used a newly innovated style of symbolism. It
took critics and audiences a few years to catch on to what Ibsen was doing with
his new symbolism and characterizations. He had made his name as a great
playwright through plays about social problems. The Doll's House is one of his
most famous social issue plays. His new symbolism was at a level of complexity
that it took some getting used to.
The duck symbolizes both captivity and freedom. It symbolizes captivity to a
physical place, to a idea, to a way of being, to circumstances, to bad choices,
etc., because it is living in captivity after being shot by Hakon. It
symbolizes freedom because as a wild duck it must be free and because it has a
natural symbolism of nature and freedom inherent in its identity as a duck and
some characters, like Old Ekdal idealize it for that reason. This brings up
another level of the duck's symbolism. Different characters associate the duck
with different ideas. To Old Ekdal the duck symbolizes his earlier life in
which he was happy. To Hedvig the duck symbolizes the lie that is destroying
her family. To Hjalmar the duck symbolizes an escape, a distraction from his
present circumstances of life.