In Wild Duck and Oedipus The King, Ibsen and Sophocles both use certain literary elements to create a heightened emotional tension during the climax of their plays. Both seems to use vivid imagery, hyperbole, and repetition during moments of emotional intensity to transmit this feeling to the play's viewers. In his writing, Sophocles uses the imagery of Jocasta's death and of Oedipus' blinding himself to increase the emotional response of those watching the play. He repeats words like "blind" and "agony" to emphasize the uncertainty of Oedipus' future and the pain that his experiences have caused him. Sophocles also uses a third party- the Messenger- to convey the gory fates of Jocasta and Oedipus. This lets the audience's imagination run wild. They can envision what happens in their minds as opposed to seeing it acted out on a stage. This makes both the death of Jocasta and the blinding of Oedipus much more personal to each individual person watching the play. In Sophocles' case, there is a conscious decision to avoid excessive imagery at this point in the play for fear of making the content distasteful.
Ibsen too uses over exaggeration to get his point across, along with a strategical plot twist that, if the audience was paying attention, anyone could see coming. Unlike Sophocles, Ibsen has no problem with using imagery at the most violent part of his play. Hedvig's death is further accentuated by the other characters' lingering upon it. The loss of a daughter and pain of a father is too close to the audience's hearts not to make a lasting impact. Ibsen therefore uses the emotional nature of human beings to increase the relatability of his work. The repetition of Hjalmar and Gina's lamentations are intended to make the audience just as sorrowful as the characters in the play. They further imply that this child died in vain, as later expressed by the doctor and Gregers.
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