Oedipus/Wild Duck

I chose to track the motif of sight. Sight appears in different ways so far in the both plays, Oedipus and Wild Duck. The motif of sight appears literally and metaphorically. It goes hand in hand with the motif of blindness. In Oedipus, the literal appearance of sight is when Oedipus blinds himself. He goes from being able to see the world, to purposely not being able to see it. The metaphorical sense of the motif of sight is that Oedipus seeks the truth of the prophecies throughout the play. He investigates and eventually uses others' knowledge to help him see the truth. He eventually does see the truth, but when he does, he wishes not to see anymore, and therefore blinds himself. Wild Duck, gives the readers/audience a man who seeks the truth as well. He wishes to see and expose the secrets that the members of the Ekdal family hides. He continues to look for the secrets, and winds up destroying the family once they are within sight. That goes along with the metaphorical sense of the motif of sight. The literal sense is discussed when Hedvig comes into play. Hedvig is losing her ability to see, otherwise known as becoming blind. The motif of sight/blindness appears many times, and possibly more times than the ones discussed. The motif of sight will be tracked in Blood Wedding as well.