Old Ekdal's Appearance
An important image in the play comes at the very beginning, when Old Ekdal sneaks into Werle's home office during his dinner party. Ekdal is described as "dressed in a threadbare overcoat with a high collar," carrying "a stick" in his hand, and wearing both a "dirty red-brown wig," and a "small grey mustache" (2). Old Ekdal here looks more like a beggar than a former businessman who shared business with Werle, emphasizing the extent of his fall from grace. Moreover, Ekdal’s appearance contrasts with the brightness and beauty of the room in which the party is being thrown. It is this antithesis, the way that Old Ekdal's poverty and status are thrown into relief by the extravagance of Werle's party, that eventually even leads his son Hialmar to deny knowing him in public.
Hedvig's Introduction
At the beginning of Act 2, we see Hedvig Ekdal for the first time, sitting and reading in her home. As she does so, it is important to note that she sits "with her hands shading her eyes and her thumbs in her ears" (17). Not only does this literally presage the fact that Hedvig is going blind (hence her sensitivity to light and the covering of her eyes), but it also has immense figurative importance in the way it depicts Hedvig as an unaware and innocent child. She is literally unable to see or hear what is going on around her, and this is all the more reason for both her isolation in the world and her contentment to live in the fantasy of her family's life together. This also contributes to the severity of her shock and sadness when everything is taken away from her, leading to her ultimate death.
Gregers' Mess
At the beginning of Act 3, just after Gregers has moved into the Ekdals' spare room, Gina tells Hialmar that he has already made a huge mess in his own room:
He was determined to do everything for himself, he said; so he sets to work to light the stove, and what must he do but screw down the damper till the whole room is full of smoke. Ugh! There was a smell [...] But that's not the worst of it; for then he thinks he'll put out the fire, and goes and empties his water-jug into the stove and so makes the whole floor one filthy puddle. (35)
This image, albeit humorous, actually has deep significance when considered in the context of the play's later events. First, the fact that Gregers taints the Ekdal home foreshadows the way in which he will eventually create a big mess in their household, upsetting the delicate system of lies that have been keeping them afloat for so long. Second, it is important that this image presents Gregers as a largely incompetent figure, unable to even do the basic work of lighting his stove. After all, Gregers endeavors to present himself throughout the play as someone deeply in touch with higher truths and ideals; this image, then, gives us a glimpse at the fact that perhaps Gregers is not as wise as he claims to be.
The Tableau of Hedvig's Death
The scene of Hedvig's death is striking, not least of all because it allows for striking parallels to be set up between her and the wild duck that she once treasured. First, before Hedvig's death even takes place, she asks Old Ekdal how he would kill the duck if he was hunting it, and he tells her that she should aim for the breast if she intends to kill. Later on, then, when Hedvig's body is discovered, we find that this is the very location in which she has shot herself. Immediately at this point, then, Hialmar voices immense regret, saying that, just before her death, he "hunted her from [him] like an animal" (86). This too solidifies the image of Hedvig being a hunted duck like the wild duck. Finally, the important detail noticed by Relling—that of the gunpowder having burned Hedvig's dress—also adds an element of tragedy to her death, since it seems to confirm the fact of her suicide and makes us think of what exactly it was that Hedvig was so desperate to escape in death. Was it the anger of her father, the lies pervading her household, or something else entirely?
