The Wild Duck: A Play of Play

The Wild Duck: A Play of Play MATTHEW WILSON SMITH In becoming civilized, man undergoes the same change as when a child grows up. Instinct weakens, but powers of logical thought are developed. Adults have lost the ability to play with dolls. (Ibsen, qtd. in McFarlane 430) This journal entry of Ibsen's, written in early 1883, presents the reader with 'certain difficulties. To begin with, it departs from Ibsen's typical journal style; almost without exception, the notes that precede and follow it are explicit indictments of society: "Patriotism and such things are but passing phases"; "Marriage [...J has ruined the human race, set the brand of slavery on everybody"; "[LJet doctors experiment on journalists and politicians." But this entry is different, trickier to interpret. Is it yet another indictment, an accolade, or merely a neutral observation? Are we to mourn the fact that "adults have lost the ability to play with dolls," or celebrate the fact that "powers of logical thought are developed" with age? Or are we simply meant to note these characteristics impassively? Another passage from the same set ofnotes reflects a similar ambiguity: "All existing things, art, poetry, etc., break down into new categories as does the mind of the child in the spirit of the adult" (43 I). The subject of this passage is similar to that of the earlier one: the transformation from childhood to adulthood and the potential loss of something artistic or playful in that transformation. And once again, we cannot help but ask ourselves whether Ibsen's claims constitute an indictment or simply a statement of fact. Does the mind of the child degenerate into the spirit of the adult, or merely trallsform? As before, the language is ambiguous, the intent unclear. Ibsen's vagueness in these two passages - his uncertain position between critique, support, and mere reportage - may be a clue to a deeper ambiguity in Ibsen's thought. If it is true that art tends to emerge more from inner conflict Modem Drama, 45'1 (Spring 2002) ro MATIHEW W1LSON SMITH and irresolution than from certainty, then these unresolved passages would seem to be fruitful ones for Ibsen's work. And, indeed, both of these passages were written at a time when Ibsen had begun work on a new drama, The Wild Duck, which, like these two passages, is about the relationship between childhood and adulthood. More specifically, The Wild Duck is a play about play. It is a drama in which something seems to have broken down between childhood and adulthood, something which might be described as "the ability to play." The drama may be seen, then, as Ibsen's attempt to develop a position on childhood, adulthood, and the loss of play, issues which hover, unresolved, in his preliminary notes. . PLA Y SPACES The centrality, and at the same time, the distancing of play is figured throughout the performance space of The Wild Duck. Playfulness is kept partially offstage through much of the drama and yet is not banished entirely; instead, it is alluded to, heard from afar, seen through a scrim (either literal or figurative), and in this way kept constantly present to the action on stage. The opening stage description of Act One sets the tone of the play - as the curtain goes up we " find ourselves in A richly and comfortablyfurnished study, Wilh bookcases and upholsteredJurniture. a writing table, with papers and reports, in the middle ofthe floor, and green~ shaded lamps softly illuminating the room. (393) This is an adult room, a study, marked by the things of the world of work. The two doors leading offstage, however, reveal a playful world behind the serious exterior. One set of double doors leads to a dining-room, from which we can hear the revelry of a dinner party: "In from the dining room come laughter and the hum of many voices in conversation; a knife clinks upon a glass; silence; a toast is made; cries of 'Bravo: and the hum of conversation resumes" (393). As for the other door, we soon learn that it leads to a music room, which doubles as a playroom for the adults - not only is music played there...