Henrik Ibsen

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former partner, is now a broken old man. He does odd jobs for Werle. He is now living with Hialmar and Gina. Gregers Werle comes to Hialmar and explains the claim of the ideal and tries to make Hialmar see that his marriage is based on a lie. But rather than making Hialmar happy by understanding the true nature of his marriage, Gregers only succeeds in turning Halmar against his daughter, Hedvig. The daughter, in order to prove her love for her father who is rejecting her, takes a pistol and kills herself.
The Wild Duck is a play in which reality versus idealism becomes a structural feature. Each scene illustrates this dualism. First Gregers confronts his father, a realist, and accuses him of a life built on lies and deception. The conflict between Gregers and his father reveals a lot about the two. It shows that Gregers is obsessed with the truth and in changing the wrongs of the past. This is shown when he attacks his father’s ability to allow Ekdal to be found solely guilty for ...

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and the impossibility of realizing them. Dr. Relling, the realist, first explains his friend Molvik’s drunkenness as part of him being a “demoniac.” He also talks down on Gregers idealism and wonders if he is still as idealistic as he once was. When Gregers and Relling confront each other you see there conflicting views on the Hialmar household. Relling comments on the happy family, but gregers calls it a “poisonous atmosphere.” Both men feel responsible for the lives of others, but Relling’s mission is contrary to that of Gregers. Ibsen shows that the realist is the one who encourages self-deception as a technique of facing life’s disappointments while the idealist encourages ...

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