THE WILD DUCK 

By: Henrik Ibsen

 THE WILD DUCK By Henrik Ibsen

Play Summary

Gregers Werle shunned his father, whom he hates, spending fifteen years in the family mining business. Gregers is so seemingly unattractive that he has given up hope of getting married and having a family; instead, he has become an idealist and is dedicated to upholding and preaching a theme of truth and purity. He calls his mission the "recovery of the ideal".

Her father, Old Werle, allegedly drove his sick wife to her death by having affairs in his own home. He had once had his servant, Gina, as a mistress. By arranging her marriage to Hialmar Ekdal, the son of her former partner, Werle also established the couple in the profession of photography. Hialmar is happy with his marriage and thinks Gina's son is his own daughter. Today Old Werle lives with his governess and there are no secrets between them.

Lieutenant Ekdal, Werle's former partner, is now a broken old man. He does odd jobs for Werle. Previously, the company had appropriated a large amount of timber from a government-owned farm. Werle blamed it all on Ekdal, who was sentenced to prison. He now lives with Hialmar and Gina.

Gregers Werle arrives in Hialmar and explains the claim of the ideal and tries to make Hialmar realize that their marriage is based on a lie. But instead of making Hialmar happy by understanding the true nature of their marriage, Gregers only manages to turn Halmar against his daughter, Hedvig. The daughter, to show her love for her father who rejects her, takes a gun and commits suicide. Hialmar later bitterly regrets his behavior.

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