Wild Duck Journal #5: Ending in relation to the whole

In both Oedipus and Wild Duck, Sophocles and Ibsen create characters that cannot handle what has happened to them throughout the play and then take drastic measures in the end to escape from their troubles. Specifically, in Oedipus, Oedipus can not cope with the fact that he has murdered his father and married his mother and he also has a difficult time when Jocasta dies. In response to all this, Oedipus jabs his eyes out because he feels that it is better to live being blind than have to confront his parents when he dies. "I, with my eyes, how could I look my father in the eyes when I go down to death? Or mother, so abused..." (1500-1502). This reveals the difficulty that Oedipus has in coping with the hardships that occur throughout the play because he feels that it is necessary to inflict pain and suffering on himself and he allows his extreme, upset emotions to take over and his actions are a direct result of that. With the build up of these upsetting occurrences, Oedipus can no longer stand himself and feels that if he stays in Thebes any longer, his daughters especially will be affected because he feels he would have left a bad image and prevented them from ever having an auspicious future and someday getting married. "Such disgrace, and you must bear it all! Who will marry you then? Not a man on earth" (1642-1643). Sophocles decided to create a character whose primary way of coping with things is escaping what is painful to show how the story can build up throughout it and a character's emotions can eventually get the best of them in the end and force them to make drastic decisions in response. In Wild Duck, Hedvig takes similar action in order to escape the pain that has been forced upon her. When Hjalmar finds out that Hedvig is most likely Werle's child instead of his, he becomes extremely angered and storms out of the house. Seeing Hedvig and her poor eyesight just reminds him of Werle, the man the fathered the child he thought was his and he prefers not to be around Hedvig at all. Hedvig had always referred to Hjalmar as "Daddy," which shows her childlike attachment to her father and reveals how much he really meant to her. However, he is reminded of Gina's affair every time he sees Hedvig and does not want anything to do with her.

HEDVIG: Mother, should I - (Seeing Hjalmar, giving a squeal of delight, and running toward him.) Oh, Daddy, Daddy!

HJALMAR: (turning from her and waving her off). Get away! Get away! (To Gina) Make her get away from me, will you!

In response to Hjalmar's reaction to Hedvig, Hedvig grabs the pistol, goes up to the attic, and kills herself. This severe response to her Dad's lack of compassion reveals how much damage one could do if there are extremely heightened emotions that take over when one is faced with a challenging situation. Isben is also able to create a character that has a build up of emotions throughout the story because Hedvig has so much love for her dad, but is then forced to give that up. When this father-daughter relationship comes across an obstacle like the one that Hedvig and Hjalmar do in the end, Hedvig's emotions take over and she must escape her troubles through death.