description The Wild Duck Overview
The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It follows Gregers Werle, an idealist who enters the household of photographer Hjalmar Ekdal and insists that the family confront concealed facts about its past. His pursuit of complete honesty destabilizes the household and has tragic consequences, while the wounded wild duck kept in the attic becomes closely associated with the family's sustaining illusions.
insights Ranking position
The Wild Duck ranks #16 of 203 in the Play ranking, behind Angels in America: Perestroika, ahead of Follies.
help The Wild Duck FAQ
What does the wounded wild duck symbolize in Ibsen's play?
The duck survives after being shot and sinking to the bottom by living in the Ekdals' attic, much as the family shelters inside comforting illusions. Different characters identify with it, so Ibsen never reduces it to one fixed symbolic meaning.
What secret does Gregers reveal to Hjalmar in "The Wild Duck"?
Gregers tells Hjalmar that Gina had a relationship with the wealthy Hakon Werle before marrying him. The disclosure also raises the possibility that Werle, rather than Hjalmar, is Hedvig's biological father.
Why does Hedvig agree to sacrifice the wild duck?
Gregers suggests that killing her beloved duck could prove her devotion to Hjalmar after he rejects her. Hedvig instead turns the pistol on herself, making Gregers's idealistic demand for absolute truth catastrophically literal.
Is Gregers supposed to be the hero of "The Wild Duck"?
Gregers sees himself as a moral liberator, but his insistence on complete honesty destroys the fragile arrangements sustaining the Ekdal household. Doctor Relling directly opposes him and argues that ordinary people need a sustaining "life-lie" to live.
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