Read Act 4
1) Consider which characters are at fault for the events that are unfolding and why?
2) Is there a character without blame?
3) Why or why not?
4) Is there a character who should carry more of the blame?
5) Do any of the characters take responsibility?
Act 4 of The Wild Duck by Ibsen (Faults, Responsibility, and Blame)
1) So far in my opinion, the characters that are to blame are Hjalmar, Gina, Werle, Gregers, and Mrs. Sorby.
Werle is at fault because he had set up and manipulated the Ekdals while keeping himself out of the trouble. For instance, the fact that Werle had a relationship with Gina who bore Hedvig made Hjalmar angry when he came to this realization. This is shown in Gina’s quote, “He didn’t give up till he had his way.” (183). Werle had also set up Old Ekdal so he would take the consequences of illegal logging instead of himself and disregarded the fact that it would ruin the Ekdal family name. If Werle had not done these deeds to the Ekdal family, then the conflict would not even have started.
Gregers on the other hand is also partly at fault because he has committed himself to letting Hjalmar know the truth about his family without taking into consideration the pain and bitter feelings that would perpetuate between Hjalmar and Gina. His idealistic trait had ruined a happy family relationship with a past problem with the Werle family.
Hjalmar is at fault because he readily believes that the only truth about Gina was the one stated by Gregers. At the same time he allowed Gregers who has no experience of a married life to stay on and consistently allow him to interfere with the argument. Hjalmar also failed to consider the happy life he had with Gina and Hedvig in his decision for the past fourteen to fifteen years.
Gina is at fault because she did not inform Hjalmar before their marriage about her past life with Werle. Whether Gina was forced by Werle against her will or not as long as she told Hjalmar the truth about her relationship with Werle, Hjalmar could have a choice whether to accept Gina as a wife or not.
Mrs. Sorby is at fault for the events that unfolded because she should not have given the legal letter to Hedvig who is not an adult. Hedvig is prone to the influences of her parents so it would be natural for her to give the letter to her parents when they asked for it even though the letter was not to be opened until the next day.
2 & 3) Hedvig is a character without blame because she had not attempted to influence any characters’ thoughts and/or feelings. For the most part, she was out of the scene. Here, she was characterized by her reactions to the results of a family argument.
4) Hjalmar should carry more of the blame because he literally allowed Gregers to control his decisions in life. As the head of the household Hjalmar should have asked Gregers to leave their house first because it is already a private and personal matter between Hjalmar and Gina. Hjalmar should talk to Gina in private making sure that Hedvig does not overhear the conversation. Whatever the outcome may be, at least Gregers is not there to interfere or further escalate the situation with his comments.
5) Werle is a character who takes responsibility because he guarantees Old Ekdal with a monthly allowance of one-hundred crowns for the rest of his life. When Old Ekdal dies, the payment will go to Hedvig for the rest of her life. He also said thru Mrs. Sorby that if Hjalmar needed anything he could call on Graaberg. Gina is also a character who takes responsibility because when Hjalmar left house in anger after the argument she went out and looked for him to keep the family together again. Gregers seems to take responsibility because he professes that he was originally informing Hjalmar about his relationship so he could have a “true marriage”. He acknowledged that what happened was not what he expected. He asked Hedvig to kill the wild duck for her father as in the quote, “But what if you now, of your own free will, sacrificed the wild duck for his sake.” (197). Gregers thinks that the solution to the situation is to kill the wild duck so it would lessen Hjalmar’s anger. He did not know that Hedvig did not understand what Hjalmar meant when he said, “That infernal wild duck - I’d almost like to wring its neck!” (180). He added, “I shouldn’t tolerate under my roof a creature that’s been in that man’s hands.” (181). In reality, Hjalmar was referring to Gina as the “wild duck”.
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