Wild Duck Journal 1

There is a gap between what we know as an audience in the play Oedipus and what we know in Wild Duck. In Oedipus the reader is more clued into what is going on then the characters on stage are through the dramatic irony. But in Wild Duck the reader feels distant and confused by the gap and ambiguity that the author creates in the lives of the characters past. In Oedipus the use of dramatic irony creates a want for the reader to read on, to see if the characters can discover what they already know. This technique draws the reader into the story. This is an interesting way to create interest, the reader does not finish the play to finally find out the ending, the answer, but rather to see the main characters figure out the answer. in contrast to the play Oedipus, Wild Duck is ambiguous and certain things are unclear to the reader. The author does not keep the reader as well informed, which keeps us at a distance. The gap between us and the characters creates a informal reading in which we can not get to know and understand them as well.