Abstract
This paper provides a brief analysis of Ibsen's play and focuses on the symbolism of the wild duck and its relation to the characters of the play. It explains that the protagonist, Hjalmar Ekdal's life and behavior are similar to the symbolic wild duck. The wild duck possessed one sort of life spirit when alive, and in that form it symbolized the life Hjalmar might have had or should have had; in its wounded form, as a trophy, though, it symbolizes the life Hjalmar has now and the plight of his family.

From the Paper
"The wild duck would once have been free, alive, strong, and able to make choices as to where to go and what to do. This is no longer the case, any more than Hjalmar would be able to express himself, be free, or show any real strength. Another element of the wild duck's existence is that it is kept away from the real world in which it formerly lived. It is Gregers who says that if the duck ever glimpses the sky, its former home and place of greatest freedom, it will die of a broken heart. It can only live by the illusion that the sky no longer exists, much as Hjalmar has to have illusions in order to live. Hjalmar is therefore contrasted with the hard-headed realist seen in the elder Werle, and it is the clash between the two that represents the war between illusion and reality most clearly, with the wild duck as a symbol of Hjalmar's hiding his head from the real world because he has been wounded."

Tags:ekdal, hjalmar, werle

Abstract
This essay compares and contrasts Henrik Ibsen's "The Wild Duck", and Thornton Wilders "Our Town", ultimately proving that the two plays, while written over fifty years and half a world apart have deep similarities in themes beneath their respective surfaces.

Abstract
In this essay, Ibsen's plays, "The Wild Duck" and "Ghosts" are considered in relation to themes of illusions and realities. In both plays, families are held together by illusions and torn apart by truths that have been concealed to protect the children. Ibsen's use of artistic realism is an ironic art form here, where illusions and realisms are contradicted to reveal the deeper conflicts of ordinary lives. Ibsen is representing the complicated realities of ordinary lives and emphasizes there are always many realities, just as there are many illusions.

From the Paper
"Ibsen introduced realism to the modern stage and established its conventions so powerfully that his is still the dominant stage technique. He substituted middle-class protagonists for kings and queens and wrote prose dialogue rather than poetry. He said, "My plays . . . are not tragedies in the old meaning of the word; what I have wanted to portray is human beings and that is just why I did not want them to speak the language of the gods.". Two such plays during his realism period are Ghosts and The Wild Duck. Ghosts, written in 1881, and The Wild Duck, written in 1884, represent the breadth of Ibsen's realism.
"The Wild Duck "and "Ghosts" are typical of Ibsen's dominant themes: the presentness of the past; people's search for their place in life; the effects of idealism as a social force; and the problem of people's ultimate freedom. The presentness of the ... "

Abstract
The paper looks at how in the article "Healing the Community," Duck, Ironstar and Ricks review the causes of the problems within First Nation communities, and propose their own solution. The paper asserts that their article is useful in situating the problems within the community, and offers useful insights to the social worker who hopes to make a difference.

From the Paper
"In the article "Healing the Community," Duck, Ironstar and Ricks (1997) review the causes of the problems within First Nation communities, and propose their own solution. Their article is useful in situating the problems within the community, and offers useful insights to the social worker who hopes to make a difference. Duck, Ironstar and Ricks (1997) offer a very good basic introduction to the problems of contemporary First Nation communities, showing how the impacts of colonization and the residential schools have caused the..."

Tags:social, work, duck

Abstract
This paper states that revenge makes for some of the best stories ever written and suggests that "The Wild Duck" by Henrik Ibsen is one of the best revenge tales ever told. The paper maintains that the theme of revenge in "The Wild Duck" is far stronger than that in "Hamlet", which is more similar to "The Oresteia". The paper relates the plots of each of these stories and argues that, in "Hamlet" and "The Oresteia", the characters are motivated by the death of someone they love. Thus, their revenge is more justified than Gregers' motivation in "The Wild Duck" because they are avenging the death of a loved one.

From the Paper
"Gregers' first plan of action is confronting his father about his past. He argues with him about his mother and tells his father that it was the "suffering and humiliation she had to undergo, till at last it broke her down and drove her to such a miserable end." It is clear from their conversation that nothing is going to be resolved. What we do learn from this conversation is Gregers inability to forgive or forget his father. That is not to say that Werle asked for forgiveness or deserved it even but the fact that Werle is not remorseful at all does not make things between the two men any better."

Tags:innocent passive cycles heartless, cold-blooded murder

Abstract
The paper examines Chekhov's "The Seagull" and Ibsen's "The Wild Duck" that are both literary satires and broad, ironic, tragic comedies. The paper identifies the idea of rivalry and violence in both plays and notes these plays' mundane settings. The paper shows how both plays are essentially about the introspection that arises from all forms of unrequited love; religious, paternal, romantic, filial and peer-driven.

From the Paper
"Both tragicomedies and both withering modern satires of the traditional melodramatics of the stage, Chekhov's "The Seagull" and Ibsen's "The Wild Duck" find kinship in lost waterfowl, drawn to "toxic" swamps by ill-defined yearnings and promptly mired there by the need for connection though the mechanisms of that connection are corrupted by the self-pity and delusion seeping from progressive failure, and the violence and vengeance that result from the festering of resentment. Both feature an elder protagonist accustomed to the literal and metaphorical limelight, deluded by the fawning admiration of others and blinded by that light (real or imagined: the light and blindness, both) to the turmoil of those closest to them as the light, ironically - and literally in the staging of "The Wild Duck - fades. Self-pity claims both of the young Romantics at the centers of their respective dramas: Treplev of "The Seagull" after being rejected by his fading stage goddess mother, Arkadina, and his inamorata/ingenue Nina (the "seagull" of the title, drawn to the lake of her childhood home); and Hedvig of "The Wild Duck" seduced by deranged Gregers into the belief that her suicide (through the metaphorical agency of the titular wild duck) will restore her father, Hialmar's, love for her."

Tags:introspection, spirituality, science, love, satire, protagonists

Abstract
This paper discusses, through the review of the plays, "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" and "The Duck Variations", the unique style of David Mamet. It examines how Mamet?s basic approach to creating his own uniquely styled art is to mix seemingly disparate elements, such as tragedy and comedy, high and low culture, sexuality and innocence, life and death, and abstract philosophy and overt social commentary. It also looks at how the basic attempt of his plays is, though ?experimental? theatrical methodologies, to somehow critique the alienation of society and reflect its cracked and porous social structure through a language that is similarly cracked and distorted.

From the Paper
"Mamet, however, does not limit his artistic approach merely to the considerations of language and his formal experimentation with the most fundamental elements of drama hardly stops there at all, indeed, he also experiments with a number of other issues and considerations, not the least of which are the things that he does with both time and space onstage. Indeed, Mamet keeps are attention glued to the stage by constantly changing our relationship to the narrative of the play by jumping around drastically in time and space and offer very little orienting information to tell us when such a leap or a jump has occurred. The point of these fractures of the basic fabric of spacetime, at least in the world of what we, as an audience, see onstage, are multiple and varied."

Tags:sexual, peversity, chicago, duck, variations

Abstract
This paper fondly recalls that, when the author was only four years old, having torn off his toe nail and having to stay in bed for several days, his father kept him occupied by reading to him from a stack of 50 used comic books. Next, the author observes that, from the symbols on the comic book pages in the balloon captions, he was able to learn to read the comic books before ever beginning his formal schooling. The paper bemoans that some present day comic books are really only pornographic works, which prevent many parents from introducing their young children to the wonderful world of some of the better comics, especially Donald Duck and miserly Uncle Scrooge.

From the Paper
"Although dubious at first, I untied the cord and looked at what he had brought me. There were Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and Superman comics by the dozen, as well as numerous Little Lulu, Baby Huey, Dennis the Menace and L'il Dot. After quickly scanning the pictures and relishing the lavish artwork and coloring of Carl Barks in the Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics, I was hooked. "Read me, read me," I insisted to my parents and was treated to their rather poor renditions of duck and superhero voices, but it was all just great stuff. Indeed, I forgot all about my toe and relished every one of the comic books over the next several days."

Tags:screams entertainment, carl barks, heros pornographic

Abstract
Discusses the life of the Danish author and his influence on children's literature. His fairy tales ("The Little Mermaid," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Ugly Ducking" & many others). Andersen's unique writing style. How his self-perception as an outsider impacted on the themes of his fairy tales. His use of oral narrative. Gives specific examples.

From the Paper
"Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 at Odense, Denmark. Although he attended two different schools at Odense, he did not complete his schooling until he was given state funding to attend Slagelse State Grammar School in 1822. Six years later, he passed his university examinations (Spink 117-8).
With the publication of his first novel, The Improvisatore, Andersen also published his first set of fairy tales containing "The Tinder Box," "Little Claus and Big Claus," "The Princess and the Pea" and "Little Ida's Flowers" in 1835 (Spink 53). From 1837 onwards, Andersen published his fairy tales in annual volumes. On August 4, 1875, he died at a summer villa near Copenhagen after suffering several years from liver cancer (Spink 117-8; "Chronology of HCA's Life")."

Tags:CHILDREN, Author