Journal #1: The Wild Duck

Option 2:

Hjalmar has a false perception of himself.  He views himself and his family as being in a condition which they don't deserve, which may be partially true.  However, he claims that he is trying to restore his family's honor by building a great invention, although during the entirety of the play he is never mentioned to have been working on the invention.  His time is actually spent attending dinner parties, hunting with his father, and building little contraptions for the wildlife in his attic.  These things, along with taking away time that he could spend working on his invention, also distract him from his work.  The people who actually do his work are his wife and daughter, who he ironically bans from getting an education and who he labels as the members of the family who take care of the little, unimportant things.  "My general rule is to delegate the routine matters to her, and that leaves me free to retire to the living room to think over more important things" (167).  This quote captures his arrogant attitude, and his complete unawareness that the women are the ones who actually take care of the house and family.

Hjalmar has misconceptions about the women in his family.  He believes that they are dependent and devoted to him.  This belief is reinforced by the fact that both Gina and Hedvig act submissive and thankful to him whenever he is around.  This gives Hjalmar the feeling of being important and in control, when in reality he doesn't do much to help the family.  His job as a photographer is in most cases done by his wife or daughter, who also keep the house clean and keep track of money.  When Hjalmar is not around, however, Gina and Hedvig take on the more important roles that Hjalmar pretends to fill.  They do his work and Hedvig reads books, an action forbidden by Hjalmar.

Gregers is the only one who realize these misconceptions placed on Gina and Hedvig by Hjalmar.  He actively attempts to make them aware of this fact by bringing up circumstances where they do the important jobs that Hjalmar was supposed to do.  While Hjalmar is hunting with Old Ekdal, Gregers says to Gina, "[s]o we might say that it's you who runs the business" (165).  Gina immediately defends her husband by saying that she does the job when Hjalmar is busy with other things.  The truth is that Hjalmar is busy with other things that are not as important as his job.  He claims to be working on some big meaningful invention but in reality he is just being distracted by other things.  He is unaware to the fact that he doesn't get anything done and that it is the women who get it done for him.  Gregers is the only one who notices this and intervenes by trying to make these circumstances obvious to the women.