The Wild Duck
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The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It focuses on the Ekdal family, whose fragile peace is shattered by Gregers Werle, an idealist who insists on exposing hidden tr
The Wild Duck, published by Gyldendal in 1884
Title page first edition, 1884
Count Christopher Paus (pictured around 1890) paid an extended visit to Ibsen in Rome in 1884, when Ibsen was working on The Wild Duck, an intimate play that draws inspiration from his own family. It was the only meeting between Ibsen and his family from Skien during Ibsen's years in exile. Ibsen had not been this close to his own family since he left his hometown over 30 years ago, and was eager to hear news from his family and hometown. Shortly after the visit Ibsen declared that he had overcome a
Alla Nazimova as Hedvig in the first English-language production of The Wild Duck (1918)
Henrik Ibsen
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Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright. He is considered one of the world's pre-eminent writers of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama". He pioneered theatr
The Wild Duck
…The Wild Duck (original Norwegian title: Vildanden) is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It focuses on the Ekdal family, whose fragile peace is shattered by Gregers Werle, an idealist who insists on exposing hidden truths, leading to tragic…
Portrait by Eilif Peterssen, 1895
Skien in 1822
Ole Paus (1766–1855), Ibsen's step-grandfather; an ancestor of the singer
Rising, Norway, Knud Ibsen's childhood home. The farm was bought by his stepfather Ole Paus in 1799, on the same day he sold the Ibsen house in Løvestrædet, which he had inherited from his wife Johanne's first husband Henrich Ibsen. Rising was the home of Henrik Ibsen's grandparents during his childhood and, along with Venstøp, stands as one of the two most significant preserved landmarks of his childhood environment.