Blood Wedding. Journal 3: Comparison.

This play is different from the rest in a way that it uses a different style of language and it uses heavy symbolism. This makes it harder for me to figure out how it connects to the other plays. But, one common thing I, and the rest of the class, have noticed about all three plays is that there is a theme of eyes and blindness.

In Oedipus he stabs his eyes out, literally. Also he is blind to what is really happening in his life. Sophocles uses irony by making the blind prophet "see" more than Oedipus.

In the wild duck, Hedvig is going blind. This makes the father very sad and it dampens his spirits. The father in a sense is also blind too, in a way that he cannot see past his rage to do what is good for the family. In a way this is also ironic because Hedvig is really sensible and can "see" what is right while the father can't.

In Blood Wedding there is a reference to daggers/knives in the eyes. This shows how rage and anger/evil blinds people. All of these plays in a sense use eyes to show how people will do the wrong thing if they are overcome by their emotions.

Blood Wedding. Journal 2: Comparison.

In both Blood Wedding and The Wild Duck, the parents idolize their children. Hjalmar adores Hedvig and tries to please her whenever he can. He is selfish though and uses her to help him out and does not realize the harm he causes her accidentally (or on purpose in the end). In Blood Wedding I noticed that the parents talk highly of their children, but their vision is clouded and it is mainly due to self impowerment. Like The Wild Duck, the parents use their children. Hjalmar uses Hedvig to help him out with his photography and to make him feel good, while the parents in Blood Wedding use their kids to talk of how highly ranked they are and as self images. In one line of blood wedding the mother talks about how she licked her sons blood because it was her own. She lives through her children, those of her blood, but she does not live through herself. The same with Hjalmar. He merely uses Hedvig to gain self confidence and to make him happy. He does not care about her feelings when he is angry with his wife. He also forgets about her (when he promises to bring treats). Though he feels bad about it he only makes empty promises in return to make up for it.

In Oedipus, this is similar but shown in an opposite way. The parents dispose of their child because they are ashamed and scared of his destiny. They do not wish him to ruin their names and there for act out selfishly against him. This is what, in turn causes their demise.

Blood Wedding. Journal 1: Lit Techniques

One thing that really stuck out to me while reading this book was the symbolism. I feel like this author is uses a lot of it. Lorca uses it with things that occur in nature such as grapes. In one passage it is stated how the son wants to go eat some grapes, which is where his brother, I believe, was murdered. The mom is completely against this and goes on a rant about knives. I feel like knives are a recurring symbol throughout this play. In one line it states how kives shined in his eyes. I feel like this foreshadows him killing someone. Since the mom is completely terrified by knives and has been tramatized by what they have done, I feel like knives symbolize the evil in the world. But, not just any evil, an evil that isn't recognized straight out. This is because a knife you would think of to use to cut things such as grapes, and it is only when a twisted mind grabs ahold of one when they are used to harm.

Also, there is a lot of references to nature in this play. This could be interpreted as naturalism or it could be interpreted as symbols. I want to keep an eye on Lorca's use of possible symbols such as; horses, grapes and trees. Trees I feel are a symbol of health. Not only physical, but mental. It is only when the set is moved to a place with no trees when the chaos begins.

The Wild Duck. Journal 4: Comparison.

I've noticed something about all of the tragedies that I have read so far, and that is that they all end in death. Someone dies at the end of Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Oedipus, and The Wild Duck. Coincidence? I think not.

Since a tragedy has to do with extreme reactions and not just what it is that happens to a person I believe that death is one of the most suitable ways to show this. In all except Othello someone ends up committing suicide, the ultimate sign that a person's life has gone to utter disaster.

But what does this show? I believe it shows how people are incapable of dealing with issues that they cannot resolve. By having a person take their own life, this shows the ultimate "give up" a person can do. They quit life.

Through this point it is easier to fully determine what an essential piece of tragedy is, and that is the inability for humans to accept that they cannot control every aspect of life. Reinert states this in one of his points in saying that tragedy happens when a person tries to control things and change things based on their moral standards, but is blocked due to a corrupt society.

Also, in the end of each play, the characters end up regretting what they did. This shows a basic human flaw that we all have (except a few), and that is remorse. The people in the tragedy's feel guilty for their rash actions and realize that they are wrong. In Oedipus, he realizes he shouldn't have tried to defy the Gods. In The Wild Duck, Hjalmar realizes that he should have dealt with the family in the tough situation instead of running away. In Romeo and Juliet, the parents realize that they should have let their children be together. And lastly in Othello, Othello regrets killing his one true love, Desdemona.

Tragedies I believe are meant to show the extremeness of human behavior and to warn us against making rash decisions because they can affect a person's life forever.

The Wild Duck. Journal 5: Creative.

Dear Diary,

I wonder what I can do to please Daddy. I pray for him and Mom and Grandpa and the wild duck every night. Our family is truly blessed. We all are kept busy which is nice so that we're not bored and Daddy's invention is going to make him famous and rich. I think Daddy wants to be well known and rich. I think he will be. He is a wonderful person. If I could help him with his inventions like I do with the retouching for the photography I would. I am want to be able to help him in any way possible.

Today mom and I got some more butter. We go through butter so much! It is almost impossible to keep a stick in the house for more than a few days. Bread and butter is our main meal though. I used to not like it very much but now I have grown to love it. Every once in a while we have meat. And that's a real treat! My favorite kind of meat is rabbit. Grandpa is very good at shooting the rabbits upstairs and occasionally we get one for dinner.

Rabbits are grandpa's one true hobby. He spends everyday upstairs in the loft shooting the animals up there. Except the wild duck, he told me that he wouldn't shoot the wild duck. He would never do that. He loves the wild duck too much, same with everyone in our family.

I would like to end this day with a prayer that grandpa, dad, mom and the wild duck all fare well and succeed.

-Hedvig

The Wild Duck. Journal 3: Comparison.

Some of the ideas in the wild duck and oedipus are the same. For instance, the fact that there is an external factor that causes them to do wrong and end up in tragedy. For example; Gregers in the wild duck, and apollo in oedipius. I believe that this shows how the people in the stories, try as they might, cannot control what is happening to them. This is shown in Oedipus when he tries to go as far away from Corinth as possible in order to not slay his father and sleep with his mother but he ends up doing just that. And this is also shown in the wild duck when Hjalmar believes that he is doing the right thing by leaving the family and that everyone will be much better off without him. This of cours, is not the case because Hedvig ends up killing herself.

I believe that both of these plays try and prove the fatal flaw in human nature, and that is striving for the impossible. Because humans strive for the impossible they are only destined for failure and their life will end in tragedy.

The Wild Duck. Journal 2: Lit Topics

I noticed that in this play, Ibsen uses metaphors a lot. He has this ongoing metaphor of the wild duck and even has one of his characters, Gregers, verbally compare the Ekdal's to a wild duck. By doing this he foreshadows what might happen in the play and it also brings about his theme of failure/strained survival in the play.

I also feel like there's maybe a motif of food in this play. They are always talking about bread and butter and not having enough. They talk about how they go through butter fast and not to spread it too thin. I feel like this is important to keep an eye on. Maybe Ibsen is comparing the bread and butter to the lifestyle people. I don't know yet it's just an idea and I am going to watch this throughout the book to see if it amounts to anything.