The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen Extraordinary work

 The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen


Extraordinary work

 

This is an exhilarating play.

Even if it does fit the paradigm which was written by Somerset Maugham, I did enjoy The Wild Duck very much.

There is a quandary, for I am not sure how to write about this work without giving in any details about the terrible events.

One way is to place a spoiler alert and then a potential reader is warned about anything he may find here that he does not already know.

The other tempting option is to go right ahead, since the audience might reach a grand total of 0 which then allows complete liberty to write whatever comes to mind.

Writing in itself requires a certain logic, frame of mind and obeisance of some rules…and this is part of the reason why it is recommended to write.

Having placed some words on a screen we get detached from the events described and that is soothing when bad things happened.

Furthermore, we can find explanations that are missing before we write.

Maugham wrote about Ibsen in less than spectacular, praising terms. He said that in all the Norwegian’s plays-

-          A character comes to the room…opens the window and the air changes the events

Not in these words, but I guess I got the picture. And it might well apply for the Wild Duck, where Gregers Werle is the one who returns and immediately gets into conflict with his father – Hakon Werle.

Hjalmar Ekdal is a photographer married to Gina Ekdal and they have a daughter – Hedvig, or at least that is what we think up to a point.

And that point for me is beyond the end of the book, for I still do not know for sure who the father of the teenager is.

Gregers is the character who comes from outside, even if this is just the return of an insider, who comes back with a different perspective.

His father had helped Ekdal and his family, but the reasons he did that are becoming apparent and less humanitarian than they appeared at first.

Hakon Werle had been infatuated with Gina, while she had been working at his house as a housemaid.

The fact that Hjalmar got married was mentioned in a letter received by Gregers, but the latter is surprised to learn that the bride had worked in their home.

-          Why did you not mention that Hjalmar got married to someone I knew, who has worked in our house? This is something suspicious.

Hjalmar finds out about this and this is when all hell breaks loose, one could probably say with some justification.

Upon finding that Hakon tried to have intimate relations and in the end managed to sleep with Gina, before they got married – Hjalmar gets mad.

He suspects that Hedvig is not his daughter:

-          I will go away, I have no daughter

He says something of the kind, which breaks the heart of Hedvig. She does not know what to do and gets some stupid advice from Gregers.

The latter does prove to turn things upside down, exactly in the pattern described by Somerset Maugham.

The Werles have saved a wild duck, which gives the title of the play and is associated by Gregers with Hjalmar…I am not sure exactly why.

However, the brilliant idea was to …shoot the duck and offer it as a sacrifice of the most beloved being in the world- this way, Hedvig will show her father how much she loves him. I found this loathsome, even if once every five years I may eat some duck. Or is it ten years?

I will stop here and say that the play is fantastic.

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