The Wild Duck

             The Wild Duck, written by Henry Ibsen is a story of two families, the Werles and Ekdals. The Ekdals are poor; Haakon Werle has ruined Old Ekdal in business. The young, idealistic Gregers, son of Haakon Werle comes to stay with the Ekdals after a quarrel with his father. He is aware, though the Ekdals are not, that Gina, wife of his contemporary Hjalmar Ekdal, was previously his father's mistress and that is why Hjalmar was provided with the funds to enable him to set himself up as a photographer. He reveals his knowledge, for he believes that no true marriage can be based on a lie as this one has been, and this causes the destruction of the household. The play ends in tragedy, for Hialmar destroys himself. He is unable to forgive Gina for having been Werle's mistress and repulses Hedvig's affectionate advances because he thinks she is Werle's daughter. Hedvig, who adores her father, cannot bear his rejection. She, therefore, shoots herself in order to prove her love for her him. Hialmar is repentant for his actions, but it is too late; the tragic damage is done.
             It's hard to say whether the decision they made was ethical or not. There are two ways to look at the story. If you look at the outcome of the play it has its advantages (ethical) and disadvantages (unethical). The ethical aspect of the play was that everyone found out the truth but they found out the hard way and the hard isn't always confronting. Things seemed to have gotten more messed up when Gregers decided to go against his father. He wanted to prove that his father was back stabber and a liar. The advantage isn't so bad because the characters became aware of who they were dealing with. The unethical portion of the play was Gregers getting back at his father, because in the long run he hurt other people as well as his father. Gregers indirectly put the notion into Hedvig's head that she should kill herself in order to make everything better. Greger...

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The Wild Duck. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 03:18, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/77507.html