Ibsen Journal 1 (Com)

A writer usually attempts to create a bond of trust between writer and reader. How and to what extent have at least two writers you have studied been able to elicit your trust?

In Oedipus, Sophocles was able to elicit my trust as the story progressed. He did this by tailoring his characters to portray a certain emotion, by eliciting particular effects through his usage of dialogue, as well as by the structure of his words. Sophocles was able to build this bond of trust to the extent that (seeing as the reader/audience already knew the outcome of the story) Sophocles had the challenge of creatively unfolding a story in the way so the reader/audience would still find enjoyment and that would put them in anticipation. In this sense, Sophocles achieved the reader's/audience's trust because I believe he masterfully accomplished planting anticipation and evoking particular emotions in the reader/audience.

In The Wild Duck, Ibsen is having a troubled time eliciting my trust. This may be due to the fact that I have not finished the story yet. Strangely enough, I find that I have more empathy toward Oedipus' character and his story and it almost feels like I do not have as much, if any, toward the families in The Wild Duck. Their story of money issues and familiy issues is not so much to my interest. The reader's/audience's interest is a heavy percentage of trust because if the reader is not interested, then the reader will not follow the storyline as well. This says a little (not a lot) about the author's ability to write. Rather, it says more specifically on their ability to capture the reader's/audience's attention at the beginning of the play. Though Ibsen has somewhat given me a reason (being that by Act 2 he has introduced the literal wild duck) I still find myself lacking interest and therefore still lacking a whole lot of trust in his work. But I guess we will see as the story progesses.