Wild Duck Journal #3

Comparison: What are the questions that underlie at least two of the works that you have read and how have the authors sought to answer those questions?

One major question asked by the two plays we have read so far is: Should the truth come out or be kept secret? Are we better off happy in our ignorance, or miserable in knowing the truth?

In Oedipus, this question definitely receives an answer. Sophocles show us that we should always strive toward the truth rather than settling for lies. Once everyone knows the truth, Jocasta kills herself and Oedipus blinds himself and prepares for exile. However, we also realize that his city is saved now that he is gone. In ancient Greek times, to die in battle protecting your city was honorable. Oedipus' exile is for the benefit of Thebes, and could therefor be seen as heroic. Also in those times, the great playwrights were basing their stories off of the "ideal man." Because we see this "ideal man" determined to find the truth, the message of the play is that a good man will always try to find the truth, no matter the cost. Even our own destruction should not keep us from discovering what is right.

In Wild Duck, Hjalmar's family is ripped apart when the truth about his wife's affair with Mr. Werle comes out. Werle gave money and support to Hjalmar because of this relationship with Gina, and now Hjalmar feels that everything he thought he worked for was a lie. He doesn't know what to believe now, but he knows that he can't trust Gina. He wants nothing to do with his family any longer. Because this play was written in the Modernist time period, it was written to portray real life. It was a movement against Romanticism (which has many connections with the Greek writing style), so it makes sense that the message from this play differs from Oedipus. Ibsen shows, through the Ekdal family's unfortunate outcome, that happiness in a lie is better than misery in the truth. Before the truth was revealed, the Ekdal family did have its problems, but they were still living together, and there are some scenes where they express a great love for each other. This is an accurate representation of real life. However, once Gregers reveals the truth the Hjalmar, this happiness is destroyed and Hedvig commits suicide because her father wants nothing to do with her. This shows us that "ignorance is bliss," and we are sometimes better off living happily in the dark.