Ibsen Wild Duck Journal 2

A dramatist often creates a gap between what the audience knows and what the characters know. With reference to at least two plays, discuss how and to what effect dramatists have used this technique.

In "Oedipus," the shepherd is the character who knows most of the story. Oedipus is blind to it until the last minute, as Jocasta is, but she learns what happened a bit sooner than Oedipus realizes it. The audience knows everything however. The characters have the limited knowledge, especially Oedipus.
In "Wild Duck," Gregers Werle and Old Werle know the whole story. The audience knows that they know the whole story because in Act Three, it says:
"Gregers: I'm planning to open Hjalmar Ekdal's eyes, He's going to see his situation just as it is - that's all."
This hints that there is something the audience does not know. So in this play, the audience is left out until near the end. Also, Gina might know what is going on. This is because she gets nervous and weird around Gregers Werle and Old Werle. Her discomfort hints that something has gone on between them in the past.