Vildanden

Ibsen, Henrik, 1828-1906Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.9

Word count: 172K words
Chapters: 18

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Vildanden by Henrik IbsenAuthor: Ibsen, Henrik, 1828-1906,Language: Norwegian, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jul 28, 2004

Editor's review

The Wild Duck is one of Ibsen's late masterpieces. This edition is the original Norwegian electronic text, released by Project Gutenberg. The play revolves around a family torn apart by "ideal demands" and the "life lie," exploring the irreconcilable tension between truth, self-deception, and compassion. In this play Ibsen pushes symbolism to a denser level: the wild duck, the attic, photography, and other images interlock, and the characters' dialogue conceals sharp edges beneath its everyday surface. For readers studying modern drama, Nordic literature, or Ibsen's late work, the original text helps capture the rhythm of the language and the subtext. When reading, pay attention to stage directions and the details of character interaction, which are often the key to understanding the symbolic system. As this is the original Norwegian text, non-Norwegian readers need the relevant language ability or should read it alongside a translation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of Nordic literature and drama who need to study Ibsen's original text
Readers with Norwegian reading ability who are interested in symbolist drama
Scholars of modern drama history who need primary-source materials
Stage directors or theater creators who want to grasp dialogue rhythm from the original

Not a good fit for

General readers without Norwegian reading ability and without a translation for comparison
Those who only want a plot summary and do not intend to read the text closely
Beginners expecting modern annotations and a detailed scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Non-Norwegian readers can work through the play scene by scene alongside a Chinese or English translation, noting differences.
While reading, chart where images such as the wild duck and the attic appear and observe how they recur.
Make a brief table of the family's conversations and the information characters conceal to clarify the pacing of the truth's revelation.
After finishing the play, return to Act One and reassess the foreshadowing in the opening dialogue.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a play?

This is Ibsen's play The Wild Duck, containing a character list, dialogue, and stage directions. It is a dramatic text for both performance and reading, not a novelistic narrative.

Can I read this edition without knowing Norwegian?

This edition is in the original Norwegian and is difficult to read directly without Norwegian. It is best used alongside a reliable Chinese or English translation, or as material for language learning and textual comparison.

Is The Wild Duck suitable for readers new to drama?

The play itself is a classic, but this edition is in the original language and has no introduction or annotations, so it is not very accessible to beginners. If you are new to Ibsen, start with an annotated translation, then return to the original for close reading.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Ibsen, Henrik, 1828-1906 Author

Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) was a Norwegian playwright best known for his problem plays on social issues. His works often center on marriage, family, gender roles, and individual freedom, exposing the contradictions beneath respectable surfaces through tight dialogue and steadily unfolding plots. The collection holds 51 of his works, including A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, and Rosmersholm, as well as dramatic collections and translations into Finnish and Esperanto. Written in a realistic style, these plays probe their characters' inner lives, with spare dialogue rich in subtext, and helped shape modern European drama; they are still staged worldwide. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here.