Ibsen published The Wild Duck in 1884, and the following winter, it was produced on stage for the first time. Initially, most critics did not respond to Ibsen's humble setting and characters, his sense of humor, and what they saw as his pretentiousness. While some viewers greatly enjoyed the play, they were, at that time, in the distinct minority. Playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote in 1897 after viewing the play, "Where shall I find an epithet magnificent enough for The WildDuck\" He found the play to be "a profound tragedy," yet one that kept the audience "shaking with laughter ... at an irresistible comedy." The poet Rainer Maria Rilke lauded the poetry of Ibsen's words. "There was something great, deep, essential," he wrote. "Last Judgement. A finality."

Summing up the majority opinion of the play, Francis Bull wrote in Norsk Litteraturhistorie in 1937 that "[PJeople had got used to the...