Ibsen on The Wild Duck

From Ibsen's notes and letters to friends.
"The metaphor of the wild duck: when they are wounded they sink straight to the bottom, the stubborn devils, and hold on with their beaks -; but if you have a good dog, and the water is shallow, then -
Hedvig as a wild duck -
Gregers’ experiences of children’s first, deepest pain. Not the sorrows of love; no, family pain, - what is painful in home situations - "

"I now have the pleasure of informing you that I completed the draft of my new play yesterday. The play is in five acts and as far as I can see will consist of about 200 printed pages, or possibly a little more.
So now the fair copy remains to be done, and I shall start on that tomorrow. As usual, however, this will not be a mere copy of the draft, but rather a re-writing of the dialogue. So this will take some time; but I take it for granted that as long as nothing unforeseen happens, the complete manuscript should be in your hands by the middle of September.
This play does not deal with political or social or public issues at all. It has entirely to do with family life. It will doubtless cause some discussion, but it will not offend anyone. "

"With this letter I am enclosing the manuscript of my new play «The Wild Duck», which has occupied me for the past four months, so that I shall miss it to some extent after having to part with it. In spite of their many weaknesses, the characters in this play have become dear to me after having to do with them daily for such a long time; but I hope they will also find good, kind friends, among the large reading public and not least among the acting community in that they all, without exception, offer rewarding tasks. "

"In some ways this new play has a place of its own in my dramatic production; the method differs in various respects from my earlier method, but I will not go into this in more detail. The critics will find these differences, I hope; at any rate they will find a great deal to argue about, and a great deal to interpret."