The Wild Duck
Robert Ferguson notes that "The Wild Duck" did not come easily to Ibsen. During the writing process, Norway was characterized by political turmoil, and from his voluntary exile in Rome, Ibsen was concerned that "the strength of an intimate, personal play such as "The Wild Duck" might drown in the political debate over the introduction of parliamentarism in Norway". After a visit to Rome in the spring of 1884 from a young relative, (later Count) Christopher Paus, from whom he was eager to hear news regarding the family in Skien, Ibsen declared that he "writes with full force." In the summer of 1884 he completed the play in Gossensaß.