Hedda Gabler, written by Henrik Ibsen and published in 1890, is a play in four acts and a social drama which achieved a very high psychological depth. The play investigates the feminine character in a society that was male-centered at the time. Frustration is reflected through the actions, behavior and perception of a woman, whose only wish was to achieve freedom, happiness and independence. Gabler is her father’s name which suggests that she is a woman who respects her father and her own family more than her husband and his family.
I found the play interesting and at the same time intriguing because Hedda has a complex personality. She has the desire to achieve her dreams, but she is unable to do so which leads to and interior struggle caused by frustration. During that time, in a progressive society, women were prevented from being independent and having a life outside their households and their families. Thus, Hedda Gabler does not have the personal resources to achieve independence, her ultimate goal, despite her desire and her craving for autonomy.
I think the way she deals with the frustration that comes from her inability is very interesting from a psychological point of view. She chooses to destroy what she cannot accept and expresses her frustration through self-destruction. In other words, if she cannot achieve self-responsibility, she has to go for self-destruction. This shows the inability of Hedda and her impotence to adapt to a lifestyle that does not represent her personality, personal goals and desires. All of this turns out to be stronger than her desire to live. I believe that she prefers to destroy everything that is against her principles and beliefs because this is the only way for her to control things, even if it takes destroying them. Giving as an example her marriage, Hedda does not treat her husband the way she is supposed to, being insensitive, cold-hearted and inconsiderate towards the man she has chosen to marry. She is miserable in her marriage and even though she wants to live a happy life, her actions lead her to be unhappy because she cannot control her frustration which in the end leads her to commit suicide in order to put an end to the miserable life she has built for herself. Even if there is a very big difference between her wishes and her behavior, this can be explained at a deep psychological level, making her a modern Medea, who destroys what she cannot achieve.
Hedda denies her pregnancy just because she does not want to accept it. We can observe from this action the way she deals with things she cannot control, and this is by embracing denial and when she cannot deny it anymore, she resorts to destruction. She knows only about destruction and she destroys Lovborg’s creative product by burning it.
Hedda Gabler is the last work written by Ibsen and “it is rather a psychological study culminating in a suicide. And this suicide, alas, is a terrible non-sequitur” (Colglazier 102). At first it seems that Hedda is strong-willed and that she cannot die, but in the end she succumbs to all the life pressures and the only escape is in death. Ibsen explored the social life and observed that people lacked sympathy for each other. Therefore, “cynicism and misanthropy have been the results, and Hedda Gabler shows this in its fullest” (Colglazier 103). There is no better way to show misanthropy than to depict a society in which a woman finds freedom in death.
Hedda comes from a family of a great reputation because her father was a General and she enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle from her birth. She was always a member of the high society, but she cannot live life according to her wishes. The play begins with her return after a honeymoon with Tesman. He is a perspective scholar aiming to become a professor, but he is not rich enough. Hedda is strong-minded and intelligent woman, who is also manipulative and unstable. Throughout the play it is revealed that she cannot even control herself. Her husband, Tesman is benevolent and ambitious person striving for academic success. One of his greatest wishes is to make Hedda comfortable and he does everything to satisfy her. However, he is naïve, since she manipulates him all the time. “Yes, of course—it makes it a little more expensive. But Hedda had to have this trip, Auntie! She really had to. Nothing else would have done” (1.75). George explains to his aunt that it was absolutely necessary for him to spend more money because of his wife’s benefit.
Tesman occasionally seems immature which Hedda finds annoying and she has a point. His academic opponent in the play is Lovborg who was also in a relationship with Hedda prior to her marriage. However, Lovborg is an alcoholic and is not threat for Tesman at first glance. After ruining his good name, he is ready to present new manuscripts and to re-establish his reputation with the help of Thea Elvsted, a woman who is also unhappily married. It seems that there is no marital happiness in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.
Hedda’s last name is Tesman after she gets married, but the play is titled by her maiden name to show how her aristocratic background differs from her husband’s modest life. She cannot fit in and therefore wishes to die which is tragic. Hedda also wishes for Ejlert to die as well but in a nice way.
Hedda does not care about professional life and she mocks her husband’s efforts to earn more money for better living standards. She is an aristocrat, while George belongs to the bourgeoisie and she is spoilt and has a lot of free time which she does not feel like wasting on familylife. Hedda feels uncomfortable in saying “we” for herselfand George because she feels that they have great differences. She has emotions for Ejlert as well as for Judge Brack who is a family friend who loves to interfere in people’s private affairs.
Hedda does not have high moral standards and she does not get along with George and, on the other side, he cannot understand her because she is unpredictable. Hedda tries to hide that she is pregnant, because she is appalled by the idea of having a family. What is most interesting about Hedda, is her amazing beauty which makes all the men fall in love with her. This makes it easier for her to be manipulative. She is least attracted to Tesman but she does not cheat on him, other an emotional level. However, since there is no love between the two of them, she does not even cheat on him in any way because their marriage is just a formality because women were supposed to get married at the time.
Hedda is very popular and she intimidates everybody which gives her power. She is unhappy in life and finds pleasure in torturing other people and playing with their feelings or mocking them. When she destroys her own life, it affects the lives of other characters because of her dominance. There is only one person who posed an authority for Hedda and it was her father. “HEDDA [In the middle doorway, looks at him with covert scorn.] /My pistols, George./ TESMAN [In alarm.] Your pistols! / HEDDA [With cold eyes.] General Gabler's pistols. [She goes out through the inner room, to the left.]” (1.500-4) Hedda is being provocative and showing that she is the descendant of a general, while her husband is a person who lacks masculinity. She teases him with her father’s legacy to prove that she is the woman with more integrity and more sense of self-worth than any man other than her father.
Hedda often implies that she was supposed to get married because of the societal norms of the time. There is a puzzle why she chooses George for marriage, but it turns out that he is the most benevolent of all the men. She says: “I had positively danced myself tired, my dear Judge. My day was done—. [With a slight shudder.] Oh no—I won't say that; nor think it either!” (2.65). The dancing is referred to her life prior to marriage and there is no joy for her afterwards.
It seems that Hedda is doing all the bad things and manipulating out of boredom and she is bored because she has no control over her life. Her intelligence predestined her to become something more than a housewife. Hedda’s situation is impossible because she cannot get what she wants because she lives in civilization and besides that, she is pregnant. There is so much she would like to do, but she is not allowed to do anything that does not involve her household. However, she is allowed to commit suicide and she resorts to that in the end. She is appalled by the fact that there is a union between herself and George, but she does accept to get married, although she denies being pregnant.
Hedda is a courageous woman because of all the power and energy she has in her spirit and character. She is her father’s daughter and she feels that she is capable of anything. However, she is deprived of her own character and reduced to being an attractive woman. Since she is incapable of fulfilling her own wishes, she believes that she is a coward. She thinks that is powerless even though she influences everybody even after her death. “HEDDABecause I have such a dread of scandal. / LOVBORG Yes, Hedda, you are a coward at heart. /HEDDA A terrible coward” (2.360-2). There is a contradiction between her image and her inner feelings. She seems to lack any sympathy for other people and she leads Lovborg to kills himself. Her pistols, which are the legacy of her father are the weapons both her and Lovbort use. It turns out in the end that Hedda Gabler is a sad woman, but at the same time courageous and that her overall misfortunate situation leads her to end her life as it is the only way to exert control over her life.
Works Cited
Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. N.p.: The Project Gutenberg, 2010. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4093/4093-h/4093-h.htm>.
Colglazier, Douglas L. "Willa Cather on Henrik Ibsen's Realism: The Protest Against Lies." American Literary Realism 33.2 (2001): 99-103. Print.
