"Not rounding off, but opening out." Comment upon the way the writers deal with the ending in relation to the whole. In your answer you should refer to two or three of the works you have studied.
That phrase relates how the authors end the play, yet there is still a story to be told. In "Oedipus the King," Sophocles has the last scene being that Oedipus is cast out of Thebes by Creon. There are still many unanswered questions left. The authors end one story in a sense, but set up a new one in the process. Since Oedipus has just been exiled, the readers are left to wonder what happens to Oedipus. Does he just go and live in the mountains alone? Does he ever see his daughters again? The last time in the play that Oedipus sees his daughters is when they are "wrenched loose from his grasp" (Sophocles 1674). By ending the play with Oedipus being banished, Sophocoles lets readers guess on what happens to Oedipus or continue the story in their own way.
In "The Wild Duck," Ibsen also doesn't round "off, but opens out." In the end, readers are left to guess as to what happens between Hjalmar and Gina after their daughter dies. By the end of the play, it is implied that they "made up," but no one is sure. Ibsen opens up the story for readers to continue by leaving unanswered questions. What is Gregers going to do? What is going to become of Hjalmar and Gina? What is going to happen to the wild duck now that Hedvig is dead? Ibsen ends the play, but at the same times leaves it open.
In "Blood Wedding," Lorca does the same thing. He ends the play with Leonardo's and the Bridegroom's deaths. Although the play is over, the question is still left as to what is to become of the bride. The readers can again keep on guessing as to what is going to happen.
Just because the plays are over, does not mean that the stories are over. By ending the play, the authors leave many unanswered questions of things that happened earlier in the plays.
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