The Wild Duck (original Norwegian title: ) is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It focuses on the Ekdal family, whose fragile peace is shattered by Gregers Werle, an idealist who insists on exposing hidden truths, leading to tragic consequences. The play was written in a realistic style, but literary scholars have pointed out the play's kinship with symbolism. It blends themes such as deception, betrayal, and the disillusionment of modern life with moments of comedy and satire, and is considered the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy. The Wild Duck and Rosmersholm are "often to be observed in the critics' estimates vying with each other as rivals for the top place among Ibsen's works".

Themes of visibility and recognition permeate the narrative, featuring characters struggling to be seen while metaphorically and literally blind to each other's true selves, symbolized through motifs such as blindness, photography, and the wounded wild duck. Like other Ibsen plays, it is rich with references to Ibsen's family; "Old Ekdal" is a literary portrait of the playwright's father Knud Ibsen. The remedy is obviously to face facts, to speak frankly, to let in the light. However, in this play the revelation of the truth is not a happy event because it rips up the foundation of the Ekdal family. When the skeletons are brought out of the closet, the whole dreamworld collapses; the weak husband thinks it is his duty to leave his wife, and the little girl, after trying to sacrifice her precious duck, shoots herself with the same gun (overhearing the fatal words from Hjalmar: "Would she lay down her life for me?"). One of the famous quotes from the doctor Relling who built up and maintained the lies the family is founded on is "Deprive the average human being of his life-lie, and you rob him of his happiness."

Different translations use different words for the "life-lie". In Eva le Gallienne's translation, Relling says "I try to discover the Basic Lie – the pet illusion – that makes life possible; and then I foster it." He also says "No, no; that's what I said: the Basic Lie that makes life possible."

On a symbolical level, Gregers and Relling seem to be opposites (the virtue of truth against the "basic lie"). The two seem to have confronted each other at several cross-roads, and the play ends with an exchange, almost a wager between the two over the possibilities of Hjalmar and his future. In this respect, Relling is a cynic who does not believe that Hjalmar will ever change, while Gregers still thinks there is hope for his eventual "redemption".

Before the play starts, Gregers worked on a plant in the mountains, and is accused by Relling (present there as well), of "intriguing" with the local serfs (actually commoners). Thus, there is a social criticism in the play, where Gregers is trying to get in touch with common men, whilst his father is mingling with high society figures – a setting in which his friend Hjalmar Ekdal is a stranger, and his father, disgraced by old Werle, is ignored by his son amongst his betters. From a social rather than a symbolic point of view, Gregers is trying to root out an unhealthy system, arguing that "truth shall set you free". In that respect, Relling, plotting with old Werle, is an advocate for the same system, and initially the opposite of Gregers.

One could argue that Gregers would feel responsible for the Ekdal family and their plight, as this is an apparent consequence of his father's manipulations and schemes. Early on, he mentions that his mother obviously died from neglect, or was driven into alcoholism by her husband's actions. As old Werle points out: "you see me with the eyes of your mother". In this respect, the Ekdal family are helpless victims, and so is Hedvig.

Background

thumb|Count [[Christopher de Paus|Christopher Paus (pictured around 1890) paid an extended visit to Ibsen in Rome in 1884, when Ibsen was working on The Wild Duck, an intimate play that draws inspiration from his own family. It was the only meeting between Ibsen and his family from Skien during Ibsen's years in exile. Ibsen had not been this close to his own family since he left his hometown over 30 years ago, and was eager to hear news from his family and hometown. Shortly after the visit Ibsen declared that he had overcome a writer's block.]]

Robert Ferguson notes that The Wild Duck did not come easily to Ibsen. During the writing process, Norway was characterized by political turmoil, and from his voluntary exile in Rome, Ibsen was concerned that "the strength of an intimate, personal play such as The Wild Duck might drown in the political debate over the introduction of parliamentarism in Norway". In the spring of 1884 a young relative, Count Christopher Paus, paid Ibsen an extended visit to Rome. Jørgen Haave wrote that "Ibsen had not been this close to his own family since he left his hometown over 30 years ago;" in fact it was the only meeting between Ibsen and his family during Ibsen's decades in exile. Ibsen was eager to hear news regarding the family in Skien. Shortly after the meeting Ibsen declared that he had overcome a writer's block and that he "writes with full force." In the summer of 1884 he completed the play in Gossensaß.

As in many of Ibsen's plays, characters are based on or named after his family members to a greater or lesser extent. The character Old Ekdal is regarded by most Ibsen scholars as one of Ibsen's most important literary portraits of his father Knud Ibsen. Ibsen had previously portrayed his father as the characters "Jon Gynt" and "Daniel Hejre", where the son's judgment of his father's wastefulness was both harsh and bitter. In old Ekdal's character, however, the poet looks at his father, "the forlorn Knud Ibsen, in a conciliatory and compassionate way".

According to Ibsen scholar Jon Nygaard, the character Gregers Werle represents the spirit of the Paus family and Upper Telemark, a broader theme that is found in many of Ibsen's plays; Nygaard points out that Høydalsverket, where Werle lived for years, is an obvious reference to Upper Telemark and especially Høydalsmo; Ibsen's ancestor Paul Paus owned Høydalsmo Stave Church.

The character Hedvig is named after the Paus family, where the Hedvig name had been passed on for generations, and more specifically after Ibsen's grandmother Hedevig Paus and sister Hedvig Ibsen.

Ibsen's model for Hedvig, especially her outward appearance, was a 13-year-old Italian-resident German girl he met in Gossensaß in the summer of 1884, Martha Kopf (born 1870), daughter of the sculptor , who lived in Rome. Ibsen wrote in a letter to his son Sigurd Ibsen: "The German sculptor, Professor Kopf from Rome, has with him a 13-year-old daughter, who is the most excellent model for Hedvig that I could wish for; she is beautiful, has a serious face and personality, and is a little greedy." There is a bust of Martha Kopf by her later husband .

Production

Premiere

The Wild Duck premiered on 9 January 1885 at Den Nationale Scene, Bergen, Norway.

On 8 November 1894, the first English translation of The Wild Duck by William Archer was performed at the Novelty Theatre in London, England. The play's first performance in the UK was well-received, and it further contributed to Ibsen's growing reputation as a prominent playwright in English-speaking countries.

Broadway

Produced by Arthur Hopkins, the first English-language production of The Wild Duck opened on March 11, 1918, at the Plymouth Theatre in New York City. The three-act drama ran through April 1918.

  • Dodson Mitchell as Werle

Adaptations

In 1926 the play was adapted into a German silent film, The House of Lies.

In 1963 the play was made into a motion picture by Tancred Ibsen, Henrik Ibsen's grandson.

On 7 March 1968, Irish national public television, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, broadcast a new production starring Ann Rowan, Marian Richardson, Christopher Casson, T. P. McKenna, Blánaid Irvine, Geoffrey Golden and Maurice Good.

In 1971, a television adaptation by Max Faber, directed by Alan Bridges, was broadcast in the BBC's Play of the Month series.

In 1976, a film version in German, written and directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer, was released.

A 1983 film version in English by Tutte Lemkow, directed by Henri Safran, with the characters' names completely anglicized, starred Jeremy Irons and Liv Ullmann.

In 1989, Bo Widerberg directed a three-part Swedish TV series starring Tomas von Brömssen, Pernilla August and Stellan Skarsgård.

In 2015, an Australian film adaptation The Daughter, directed by Simon Stone, was released.

References

  • Ibsen, Henrik (1884). The Wild Duck; trans. Stephen Mulrine. London: Nick Hern Books, 2006
  • Ibsen, Henrik (1961). The Wild Duck and Other Plays by Henrik Ibsen; newly translated by Eva Le Gallienne. New York: The Modern Library; p. 194.
  • The Wild Duck at Project Gutenberg
  • Ibsen, Henrik. The Wild Duck at University of Virginia Library
  • Costume sketches and poster for the 1970 production at the Criterion Theatre by Motley Theatre Design Group - Motley Collection of Theatre & Costume Design