The Wild Duck

In The Wild Duck the idealistic son of a corrupt merchant exposes his father's duplicity, but in the process destroys the very people he wishes to save. Gregers Werle forces his friends, the Ekdals, to confront the truth about their lives—but the truth only serves to wound them further. In the play, the wild duck is a symbol of this injured family, and perhaps of the loss of Ibsen's youthful idealism.