The Wild Duck: Transitions and Developements
             The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen is a melodramatic play which contains characters of great significance. One particular character, Gregers, stands out from the rest. He is perceived by most readers to encompass somewhat of an idealistic God-like figure. Gregers, who contains a serious characteristic shows no emotions, while "playing God" in people's lives. This is partially due to the fact that he can abandon the situation, and thus leaving the characters involved with the outcome. In addition, Gregers has a personal notion of what an ideal marriage should be. Since the Ekdal's marriage does not fall into that notion, he mistakenly believes that they are unable to maintain a happy marriage, since it is based on lies and deceit. As a result of Gregers' beliefs and determination to bring forth idealism, he gradually depicts and dismantles the illusion upon which the Ekdal's happiness is based, through his character developments and transitions. This in turn leads to the destruction of the Ekdal family.
             In order to portray Gregers' serious personality and his determination to bring forth idealism, the dialogue, in terms of tempo, rate, and expressed emotions is an exceedingly important factor. An essential aspect that should be distinguished is the significant transition within Gregers' personality. In act one; the scene in which Gregers is astonished to find out that Hjalmar thought he had something against him for 17 years; Gregers' tone should sound rather high when he says, "How could you think that I had anything against you?" (Worthen, pg 26, Act one line13) in order to portray his shocked reaction. As the scene progresses, the tone in Gregers' voice becomes lower and he begins to speak more slowly while he carefully questions Hjalmar. The slowing down of Gregers' speech is to ensure the question is understood correctly s...