The Wild Duck - Journal 3

Point of View/Characters: From whose point of view is the story told? Does this change? How reliable is the narrative voice? How well does the reader get to know the characters? How credible are they? How are they presented? How does the writer persuade us to like/sympathize with some characters and dislike others?

The Wild Duck does not have a true narrator or point of view from which the story is told. Instead the audience is allowed to observe the scenes in a more naturalistic way. This is evidenced in the fact that there are no characters that appear continuously throughout the play, instead the focus shifts between different moments and individuals that serve to give the audience a greater understanding of all of the characters (as opposed to Oedipus the King, where the titular character is the focus of the plot and provides the point of reference for the story). One thing in particular I find interesting about this shifting of focus away from an individual is how it really brings to light the characteristics of every character. The audience is never given a traditional protagonist to latch onto throughout the play and instead must connect with multiple characters of varying viewpoints. The only weakness to this is that it can be hard to judge the different characters (along with their views/philosophies) all at once.

Ibsen definitely attempts to influence the audience in how they see and connect with various characters. The best example of this is Werle, he only appears very little and his only real actions are his arguments with Gregers. At first it would be easy to write him off as malicious or cold-hearted, but he is obviously more complex than that. Our perceptions of him are tainted by Gregers arguments against him, that he(Werle) is to blame for the downfall of the Ekdal family and only serves his own self interests. But looking beyond just his interactions with Gregers it can be seen that Werle could have multiple character interpretations. Without the character of Gregers to insinuate his (possible) ulterior motives, both the audience and Hjalmar could take various actions as hints of kindness. For example, Werle's gift to the elder Ekdal could be seen as compassion for an old friend. Another interesting point to look at when considering Werle is his relationship with Mrs. Sorbe, there is obviously a caring connection between the two and Mrs. Sorbe comments on the matter supports this. Ironically, Werle, who Gregers hates, is the closest one to having Greger's "true" marriage, suggesting that in actuality Werle is a much better person than Gregers makes him out to be.