Wild Duck Journal #2

Wild Duck Journal #2

“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” To what extent do you find this statement applicable in at least two plays you have studied?

During the span of a human life, a person can go through many experiences and occurences. Some may be good, some may be bad, some things happen everyday while others may be once in a life time opportunities. When you think back and reflect on your life, you typically only remember the exciting, notable things, things such as your first date, your first car, your first wedding…which hopefully ends up being your last, but that depends on the person. We tend to filter out things that don’t seem important, things that seem trivial or happen on a daily basis. The culmination of these important memories are what people tend to look back on, rather then the dull bits.

This is apparent in the plays Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Wild Duck by Henrick Ibsen. Playwrights typically keep their works to the point and filled with drama because their audiences are literally right in front of them, and not reading the plays at their leisure at home. In Oedipus the King, the play is packed with drama from start to finish. It starts with the plague set off by Apollo, the mystery and dramatic unraveling of the real murder of Laius and ends off with Oedipus gouging out his eyes. This sequence of events are all dramatic and keep the audience connected throughout the play.

In just the first act of Wild Duck, there is already drama, although not as constant and apparent as in Oedipus. The play starts with a dinner party and gossip amongst the servants in the household. The audience first sees the background of the Edkal family and the relationship between Edkal and his son is revealed. These parts seem to cut out anything that might be boring or unnecessary and gets straight to the point.