The Wild Duck is at the same time both tragic and comic a tragicomedy. Its tragic elements derive primarily from the ruin that Gregers's flaw his compulsive and unrealistic need for the idealistic brings upon the Ekdal household and particularly on Hedvig. Single-handedly, Gregers takes a secure family and turns them into an isolated collection of people, none of whom trusts or has confidence in the other. Hedvig's tragedy, while instigated by Gregers's course of action, stems from her father's renunciation of her. His actions are inevitable, for they are based on his rampant egotism. Thus, the mantle of tragic character falls upon him as well.