The Wild Duck’s Hedvig: An Adolescent Dragged to Suicide

Authors

  • Safaa Fahes MA English Language and Literature, Lebanese University, Lebanon

Keywords:

Suicide, adolescent, sacrifice, neglect, conflict, family

Abstract

Adolescents predominantly experience fluctuations and turmoil during a stage that witnesses conflicts of multiple forms emanating from a wide variety of sources. Such individuals wallow in the mire of crises that start with quarrels within the family and self-harm, pass through drug abuse and end in suicide. It is the latter phenomenon that this paper seeks an investigation of, in particular as regards the suicide of Hedvig Ekdal in Henrik Ibsen’s play, The Wild Duck. Controversy looms large in the critical interpretations of Hedvig’s suicide, some construing it as an accidental fate, others accusing Gregers Werle, or blaming her father, Hjalmar, and still others seeing her mother, Gina, as the perpetrator. No matter who the culprit is, literature seems short of investigating the roots of this suicide from sociopsychological perspectives. This paper thus picks up the gap in existing literature so as to clarify why the sensitive adolescent girl, Hedvig, takes the matter of ending her life into her own hands.

References

Ibsen, H. (1962). The Wild Duck. In O. Reinert (Ed. & Trans.). Modern Drama: Nine Plays (pp. 1-83). Little, Brown and Company. (Original published 1884).

Berman, A. L. (1991). Adolescent suicide: Assessment and intervention. American Psychological Association. https://archive.org/details/adolescentsuicid1991berm/page/78/mode/2 up

Braga, W. d. C. (1989). Youth suicide risk assessment: Process and model. In B. Garfinkel & G. Northrup (Eds.), Adolescent suicide: Recognition, treatment and prevention (pp. 1-21). The Howarth Press. https://archive.org/details/adolescentsuicid0000unse_v3r8/page/40/m ode/2up

Carr, A. (2002). Depression and attempted suicide in adolescence. (M. Herbert, Ed.). BPS Blackwell.

Clurman, H. (1977). Ibsen. The Macmillan Press. https://archive.org/details/ibsen0000clur/page/126/mode/2up

Diamond, G. S., Wintersteen, M. B., Brown, G. K., Diamond, G. M., Gallop, R. Shelef, K. & Levy, S. (2010). Attachment-based family therapy for adolescents with suicidal ideation: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 49(2). 122-131. http://jdc.jefferson.edu/phbfp/8

Finch, S. M., & Poznanski, E. O. (1971). Adolescent suicide. Charles C. Thomas Publisher. https://archive.org/details/adolescentsuicid0000finc/page/n5/mode/2u p

Finney, G. (1994). Ibsen and feminism. In J. McFarlane (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Henrik Ibsen (pp. 89-105). Cambridge University Press. https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_e1q1/page/n7 /mode/2up

[From a pseudonymous notice by ‘Mordred’, referee]. (1905, October 22). In M. Egan (Ed.). (2003). Henrik Ibsen: The critical heritage (pp. 429-432). Routledge. https://www.pdfdrive.com/henrik-ibsen-critical-heritage-seriese159043074.html

[From unsigned theatre comment, Referee]. (1905, October 29). In M. Egan (Ed.). (2003). Henrik Ibsen: The critical heritage (pp. 432- 444). Routledge. https://www.pdfdrive.com/henrik-ibsen-criticalheritage-series-e159043074.html

Fulsas, N. & Rem, T. (2018). Ibsen, Scandinavia and the making of a world drama. Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.com.lb/books?id=i_o6DwAAQBAJ&printsec=fr ontcover&dq=Ibsen,+Scandinavia+and+the+Making+of+a+World+D rama&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Ibsen%2C%20Sca ndinavia%20and%20the%20Making%20of%20a%20World%20Dra ma&f=false

Goldman, M. (1999). Eyolf’s eyes: Ibsen and the cultural meanings of child abuse. In H. Bloom, (Ed.). Henrik Ibsen: Modern critical views (pp. 197-218). Chelsea House Publishers. (Reprinted from “Eyolf’s eyes: Ibsen and the cultural meanings of child abuse, 1994, American Imago, 51(3), 279-306). https://archive.org/details/henrikibsenmcvbl00haro

Gosse, E. (2003). Ibsen’s social dramas. In M. Egan (Ed.). Henrik Ibsen: The critical heritage (pp. 77-94). Routledge. (Reprinted from “Ibsen’s social dramas”, 1889, Fortnightly Review, 14, 107–21) https://www.pdfdrive.com/henrik-ibsen-critical-heritage-seriese159043074.html

Gould, M. S., Shaffer, D. & Greenberg, T. (2003). The Epidemiology of Youth Suicide. In R. A. King & A. Apter. (Eds.). Suicide in Children and Adolescents (pp. 1-40). https://archive.org/details/suicideinchildre0000unse_m8x9/page/40/m ode/2up

Harad, A. (2005). Ibsen’s themes and symbols. In C. B. Johnson (Ed.), Four great plays: A doll's house, the wild duck, hedda gabler, the master builder (pp. 410-412). Pocket Books. https://archive.org/details/fourgreatplays00ibse_0

Hawton, K. (1986). Suicide and attempted suicide among children and adolescents. Sage Publications. https://archive.org/details/suicideattempted0000hawt/page/n5/mode/2 up

Hoberman, H. (1989). Completed suicide in children and adolescents: A review. In B. Garfinkel and G. Northrup (Eds.), Adolescent suicide: Recognition, treatment and prevention (pp. 60-88). The Howarth Press. https://archive.org/details/adolescentsuicid0000unse_v3r8/page/40/m ode/2up

Jones, H. A. (2003). The unfortunate depravity but enlivening influence of Ibsen. In M. Egan (Ed.), Henrik Ibsen: The critical heritage (pp. 233-234). Routledge. (Reprinted from “The unfortunate depravity but enlivening influence of Ibsen”, 1891, Era). https://www.pdfdrive.com/henrik-ibsen-critical-heritage-seriese159043074.html

Jurich, A. P. (2008). Family therapy with suicidal adolescents. Routledge. https://archive.org/details/familytherapywit0000juri/page/n7/mode/2u p

Leehey, K. (1991). Teens at risk: How to recognize and prevent adolescent suicide. https://archive.org/details/teensatriskhowto00leeh/page/42/mode/2up

Macfall, H. (1907). Ibsen: The man, his art and his significance. Morgan Shepard Company. https://archive.org/details/ibsenmanhisartan00macfuoft/page/256/mod e/2up?ref=ol&view=theater

McFarlane, J. W. (1971). Preface. In J. W. McFarlane (Ed. & Trans.), Ibsen: Plays; An enemy of the people, the wild duck, Rosmersholm (pp. ix-xxv). Oxford University Press. https://archive.org/details/ibsenplays00ibse/page/128/mode/2up

Meyer, M. (1980). Ibsen: A biographical approach. In E. Durbach (Ed.), Ibsen and the theatre: The dramatist in production (pp. 14-26). New York University Press. (Reprinted from Biography of Ibsen, by M. Meyer, 1967, Hart-Davis) https://archive.org/details/ibsentheatredram0000unse/page/26/mode/2 up

Miller, D. N. (2011). Child and adolescent suicidal behavior: Schoolbased prevention, assessment and intervention. The Guilford Press. https://archive.org/details/childadolescents0000mill

Moi, T. (2005). “It was as if he meant something different from what he said – all the time": Language, metaphysics, and the everyday in the wild duck. In C. B. Johnson (Ed.), Four great plays: A doll's house, the wild duck, hedda gabler, the master builder. (pp. 421-422). Pocket Books. (Reprinted from “It was as if he meant something different from what he said – all the time": Language, metaphysics, and the everyday in the wild duck, 2002, New Literary History: A Journal of Theory and Interpretation) https://archive.org/details/fourgreatplays00ibse_0

Northam, J. (1999). The wild duck. In H. Bloom (Ed.), Henrik Ibsen: Modern critical views. (pp. 59-85). Chelsea House Publishers. (Reprinted from Ibsen: A critical study, by J. Northam, 1973, Cambridge University Press) https://archive.org/details/henrikibsenmcvbl00haro

Østerud, E. (1996). Henrik Ibsen’s theatre mask. Tableau, absorption and theatricality in the wild duck. Orbis Litterarum. 51(3). 148-177. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230547936_Henrik_Ibsen's _Theatre_Mask_Tableau_Absorption_and_Theatricality_in_The_Wil d_Duck

Santrock, J. W. (2001). Adolescence. McGraw-Hill. https://archive.org/details/adolescence00sant_0/page/n5/mode/2up

Shaw, G. B. (1891). The quintessence of Ibsenism. Walter Scott. https://archive.org/details/quintessenceofib00shawrich/page/98/mode /2up?ref=ol&view=theater

Slaby, A. E. & McGuire, P. L. (1989). Residential management of suicidal adolescents. In B. Garfinkel & G. Northrup (Eds.), Adolescent suicide: Recognition, treatment and prevention (pp. 23- 43). The Howarth Press. https://archive.org/details/adolescentsuicid0000unse_v3r8/page/40/m ode/2up

Sprinchorn, E. (1980). Ibsen and the actors. In E. Durbach (Ed.), Ibsen and the theatre: The dramatist in production (pp. 118-130). New York University Press. https://archive.org/details/ibsentheatredram0000unse/page/26/mode/2 up

Viesland, J. (2005). The ethics of aesthetics: Decadence in Henrik Ibsen's the wild duck. Ibsen Studies. 5(1). 48-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15021860510032790

Wagner, B. M. (2009). Suicidal behavior in children and adolescents. Yale University. https://archive.org/details/suicidalbehavior0000wagn/page/n5/mode/2 up

Downloads

Published

2023-05-30

How to Cite

Fahes, S. (2023). The Wild Duck’s Hedvig: An Adolescent Dragged to Suicide. ESI Preprints, 17, 477. Retrieved from https://esipreprints.org/index.php/esipreprints/article/view/412

Issue

Section

Preprints