Ibsen V: Comparison
5.15.2010 / 21:05
Hedvig [stands a moment immovable, in terror and perplexity, biting her lips to keep back the tears; then she clenches her hands convulsively, and says softly:] The wild duck.
In these few lines, a few articulations across books may be made. The symbolic nature of the wild duck and the outstanding nature of Hedvig's decision, ultimately is contrasted with the usage of pain as an important factor in tragedies, as well as the end in which it produces. Hedvig ultimately symbolizes a painful and frightened curiosity that is produced from the ever-binding care of pragmatism and idealism. This is essentially exactly what happened in Ibsen's transformational mindset that supposedly changed him completely. This notion is examined through the confusion that arose in Hjalmar, the symbol of the ideal, and then the sorrowful nature that grows in pragmatic individuals as real life hits the social norm at the time. He is essentially speaking through the image of the Wild Duck, in the pain that it sees as Hedvig shoots herself in the chest. Earlier on in the play, the grandfather told Hedvig that to shoot it in the heart was the best way for it to go. After this cataclysmic shot, both realize the 'terror and perplexity' that was haunting curiosity, has now ended curiosity and brought forth the rise in pragmatic thought. This is also evident in the way that the feminist critique is written. Gina in the end comes out learning the most because she sees and is the quintessence of pragmatic school of thought.
Labels: Journal
Name: Hiro Nukaga
