Wild Duck Journal # 4

Notes from a brainstorm session on "outrageous links" between Wild Duck and Oedipus

Blindness-- the motif of blindness is evident in both plays, and both plays use blindness to reveal truth and to hide misfortunes. In Oedipus, Oedipus was blind to the knowledge of his past and therefore he was happy. When Oedipus speaks with the blind prophet it is revealed that blindness gives power and knowledge, "you mock my blindness? let me tell you this. you with your precious eyes, you're blind to the corruption of your life" (468). The seer is the only one who knows the entire story of Oedipus' fate, other than the shepherd who gave Oedipus away. Though he is blind he sees more clearly than the rest of the citizens, Oedipus is blinded by his rage and will not hear what the seer is saying, even though he clearly states the truth. Once he learns of the truth he can no longer bear to see and so he blinds himself. Sophocles uses blindness as knowledge to illustrate that in order to learn the truth one must step outside of the situation and examine it critically. The prophet had no personal ties to Oedipus and so he was not hindered by his desire to save him from harm. And after Oedipus learned the truth of his life he no longer cared about his well being and was able to look away from it. In Wild Duck blindness is a great stumbling block for the Edkal family because the daughter Hedvig is going blind. The father tries all he can to save her from the terrible fate of blindness, however in so doing he is blind to the facts of his wife's past mistakes. With this blindness they are happy. Contrasting to Sophocles Ibsen is showing that blindness brings happiness. Hjalmar did not know of his wife's affair and therefore never expected that Hedvig was not his own child, as he makes this discovery he begins to hate the child. This new sight sows seeds of contention and broken family life. The family was happy being blind to each others fault and sight only made them miserable and ended in the loss of their most precious member, their daughter.
Corrupt Marriages -- In Wild Duck Hjalmar and Gina's marriage is not what it appeared to be at first. When they got married they were in love and built their marriage out of that, however when Gregers interferes and decides to make theirs a true marriage it all goes away. Gina is now known to have had an affair with Mr. Werle right before marrying Hjamar. This greatly upsets him and he feels used and cheated because he got discarded produce. This creates and deeper plot that merely trying to bring back the Edkal family name. Problems of trust and honesty now arise. Ibsen uses this conflict within marriage to show how trust is a key part to any relationship and if it is not built upon it then it will fall and break under strain. In Oedipus, the marriage between Jocasta and Oedipus is disgusting to say the least. However neither of them realize the truth until the end, which causes death for one and blindness for the other. Sophocles has this tainted marriage between son and mother to illustrate how seeking for power ultimately causes a person to overlook details which bring about destruction.