Blood Wedding Journal #3

Creative

Diary, I write to you today because i am torn between agony and loyalty. If I keep the relationship between my fiance and I then I will live a life of luxury. Luxury because he will love me and care for me. I will be able to keep a sturdy life without having to worry about critcism and piercing gazes of dissapproval from the people around me. However, if i choose to follow my heart's desire although there will be constant jeers and looks of disgust thrown at me, I will be able to live in happiness. Everyday will be like heaven because it is just my love and I. Diary, I do not know what to do or what to think. I simply want to make a decision that will make me not live in regret or hurt others. My fiance is a good man, but he simply does not satisfy my heart.

Blood Wedding Journal #1

I think that the relationships between the characters of this play are a lot more deceiving and complicated than they look on the outside just like in The Wild Duck. The two plays The Wild Duck and Blood Wedding are similar because they both share a common theme of deception.

In the play Blood Wedding, although the bridegroom and his whole family seem to be happy, it is only because they do not know the truth. The bride deceives the groom in making him think that the person she loves is him and him alone. However that is not the case because the person that she truly loves is Leonard and not him where as in the play The Wild Duck Hjalmar who is also deceived by his wife Gina, because she does not tell him that she once had a relationship with Gregors Werle. The relationships between Hjalmar and his wife Gina, and the relationship between the bride revolves around deception. They are spun in a web of lies and deprived of the truth.

Wild Duck Journal #4

"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out" To what extent do you find this statement applicable in at least two plays you have studied?

I have only read two plays so far which is Oedipus and The Wild Duck so far, therefore i will explore these two plays to see what extent this statement applies to these two plays. In the play Oedipus by Sophocles, it centers around Oedipus's life as ruler of his city and his people and how he rose to that position. Oedipus, not knowing that the prophecy predicted about his fate would one day come true: "He would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother" traveled to the city of Thebes to find out the identity of his true parents. This play centers around his cockiness, his unwillingness to accept the thoughts of the lower class. Greek and Roman plays always depict characters that are of higher status, the rich. The idea of wealth is an ideal for the poor, it is portrayed as a wondrous, must have thing. I remember in class when we discussed about how people would often go see these plays to escape from their troubles, and have a moment of freedom. Dramatic plays like this one here, Oedipus allows the audience to experience the excitement in life, love, pain, agony all played before their eyes.

In The Wild Duck by Ibsen this statement can be applied to the Ekdel and Werle families. Between the members of these two families we see conflicts between father and son, mainly spurred from comunication barriers and also jealousy perhaps. Gregors Werle is jealous of his father for providing and caring for Hjalmar Ekdel. Perhaps he feels as if his own father, blood relative does not care for him as much as a stranger. He is not as important nor is he worthy enough to recieve his father's affection. The audience is shown family conflict, not too exaggerated nor too fake. It is realistic and provides a sense of relief to be able to divert themselves from their own problems in life and instead focus on someone else's.

Wild Duck Journal #3

Themes and Ideas (Discussion)

Ibsen frequently uses the motif of food throughout his play The Wild Duck. The food represents a crucial part in the character's lives such Hjalmar Ekdel's. If there is enough bread, then there is never enough butter. His life never satisfies him and he always feels as if he is missing something. He lacks self-confidence and trust in others. Hjalmar, just like bread, without enough butter his life cannot be complete and there will always be a hole within himself.

Wild Duck Journal #2

In the Wild Duck play, Ibsen uses metaphor to compare the ekdels to a "wild duck". Gregors Werle compares Hjalmar Ekdel to the duck. He says:

"My dear Hjalmar, I suspect you've got a bit of the wild duck in you. [...] You've plunged to the bottom and clamped hold of the seaweed."

The duck, who is always supposed to dive towards the bottom of the sea when wounded (conflicted) is brought back up by the dog. Gregors is trying to say that Hjalmar backs away from his problems and refuses to face them. Thus "diving towards the bottom of the sea" to hide away from his pains. Gregors is his savior who rescues him from the depths of the sea. Gregors lifts Hjalmar back up to the surface to revive him.

Wild Duck Journal #1

Throughout the entire part of Act II while i was reading I noticed that between Hakken Werle and Gregors Werle's were constantly bickering and conflicting with each other. Their relationship, being father and son I thought would be much more warm and peaceful. There seemed to be a misunderstanding between the two perhaps. It seemed as if Gregors Werle despised his father because perhaps he did not show much love to his son. Such as on page 132 where Gregors says to his father:

"You wrote me a letter then---a business letter, naturally; and in a postscript it said, brief as could be"

This indicates that there is a communication barrier between his father and him. Even when writing letters to each other, the content of the letter is as short and to the point, brief as possible. Overall, this shows how there is distance between the two and how there could have been been a misunderstanding between them previously.

Blooms Taxonomy Question #2

How does Goldilock's actions illustrate the characteristics of human nature?