Overview

The late Rolf Fjelde, a Brooklyn native of Norwegian descent, translated his first Ibsen play, The Wild Duck, in 1956. Founding President of the Ibsen Society of America and perhaps the most widely-known translator of Ibsen's work, Mr. Fjelde worked to avoid what he called, "stiff and hobbled diction — or, certainly no better, a cavalier freedom that has cut or padded the text." Henrik Ibsen's 1884 drama, The Wild Duck, tells the story of Gregers Werle, an idealist who returns to his hometown after some absence. While there he begins to meddle in the affairs of the Ekdals, an odd family who appear to live a humble artistic life. Gregers, who believes that the pursuit of the ideal demands the exposition of absolute truth, summons the Ekdals to cure them of what he sees as various delusional fantasies. In so doing, Gergers unleashes the tragic unraveling of the very fabric of the Ekdals lives.