Hedda Gabler (1890)

Text: Hedda Gabler (1890), trans. Edmund Gosse and William Archer. Contemporary Drama: 15 Plays. Ed. Bradlee E. Watson and Benfield Pressey. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1959. 3-42.

Context

Henrik Ibsen is one of the world's greatest dramatists. He was the leading figure of an artistic renaissance that took place in Norway around the end of the nineteenth century, in which the work of the artist Edward Munch also played a part. Ibsen lived from 1828 to 1906. He grew up in poverty, studied medicine for a while, and then abandoned that to write plays. In 1858, he published his first play, The Vikings at Helgeland, and married Susannah Thoresen, the daughter of a pastor.
Ibsen obtained a scholarship to travel to Italy, where he wrote the plays that would establish his reputation, Brand and Peer Gynt. These were long, historical verse-plays. He lived most of the rest of his life in Italy and in Germany. Starting in 1869, he began to write prose plays, giving up the verse form. In 1877, he began what would become a series of five plays in which he examines the moral faults of modern society. The group includes A Doll's House and The Wild Duck. In many ways, Hedda Gabler, a later play completed in 1890, belongs to this group. It presents a detailed picture of society, sketching class differences between the aristocratic and bourgeois worlds.
Like all of Ibsen's plays, Hedda Gabler was originally written in Norwegian and is full of untranslatable wordplay. James Joyce admired Ibsen so much that as a youth he attempted to teach himself Norwegian in order to read Ibsen in the original.

Analysis

It is fitting that the title of the play is Hedda's maiden name, Hedda Gabler, for the play is to a large extent about the formerly aristocratic Hedda's inability to adjust to the bourgeois life into which she has married. Her tragedy lies not only in her own suicide but in her desire that Ejlert should have a "beautiful" suicide: she hopes that life can be beautiful, can measure up to a certain standard, regardless of practicalities like professional success or failure. She is amused by how much Tesman worries about making a living.
This aristocratic privileging of "aesthetic" matters causes Hedda to feel very unsympathetic to Tesman. She doesn't allow him to use the word "we" to describe the two of them. It also allows her to feel little guilt when "cheating on" him, if only on an emotional level, with Ejlert and Judge Brack. Her values, based on an aesthetic standard rather than the moral standard to which her husband conforms, are beyond Tesman's control or even his understanding; as a result, he cannot predict her actions. At the same time, however, Hedda's apparent pregnancy draws attention to the tragic nature of her quest. She continually denies the inevitable.
The rest of the male characters are more or less in love with Hedda, perhaps because of her almost decadent sense of beauty. Brack wants to establish a private relationship with her, parallel to her relationship with Tesman, and Ejlert dearly hopes that she shares his "passion for life." She finds both of these ideas silly, openly rejecting Ejlert's notion and teasing Brack by saying that he wants to be "the cock of the walk." Even Mrs. Elvsted feels intimidated by Hedda. Because of this popularity, she is the most powerful character. She toys with others because she can find no solace or entertainment in life. Indeed, Hedda's power is so far-reaching that her own self-destruction leads almost inevitably to the destruction of the other characters' lives.

Characters

Hedda Gabler - Hedda is the daughter of the famous General Gabler; as a child she was used to luxury and high-class living. As the play begins, she is returning from her honeymoon with George Tesman, a scholar with good prospects but not as much money as Hedda is accustomed to. Her married name is Hedda Tesman. Hedda is an intelligent, unpredictable, and somewhat dishonest young woman who is not afraid to manipulate her husband and friends.

George Tesman - Tesman is an amiable, intelligent young scholar. He tries very hard to please his young wife, Hedda, and often does not realize that she is manipulating him. In fact, he often seems foolish for his age, and when he annoys Hedda, the audience has reason to sympathize with her. Tesman is hoping for a professorship in history, and at the beginning of the play it seems that his one great rival, Ejlert Lovborg, a notorious alcoholic, no longer stands in Tesman's way. Tesman was raised by his Aunt Julia.

Juliane Tesman - Juliane Tesman, or Aunt Julle, is the aunt of Jürgen Tesman. After Tesman's parents died, Aunt Julle raised him. She is well-meaning, and she is constantly hinting that Tesman and Hedda should have a baby. Aunt Julle tries to get along with Hedda, but the difference in their class backgrounds is painfully apparent. Aunt Julle lives with the ailing Aunt Rina, another aunt of Tesman's.

Judge Brack - Brack is a judge of relatively inferior rank. He is a friend of both Tesman and Hedda, and he visits their house regularly. He wants to be "the only cock in the basket." He has connections around the city, and is often the first to give Tesman information about alterations in the possibility of his professorship. He seems to enjoy meddling in other people's affairs. He is a worldly and cynical man.

Ejlert Lovborg - A genius, Ejlert Lovborg is Tesman's biggest competitor in the academic world. After a series of scandals related to drinking, he was once a public outcast but has now returned to the city and has published a book to rave reviews. He also has another manuscript that is even more promising. Mrs. Elvsted helped him with both manuscripts. He once shared a close relationship with Hedda.

Mrs. Elvsted - Mrs. Elvsted is a meek but passionate woman. She and her husband hired Ejlert Lovborg as a tutor to their children, and Mrs. Elvsted grew attached to Ejlert, acting as his personal secretary and aiding him in his research and writing. When Ejlert leaves her estate to return to the city, Mrs. Elvsted comes to town and goes to Tesman for help, fearing Ejlert will revert to his alcoholism. Mrs. Elvsted went to school with Hedda and remembers being tormented by her.

Berte - Berte is George and Hedda Tesman's servant. Formerly, she was the servant in Julia Tesman's household. She tries very hard to please Hedda, her new mistress, but Hedda is quite dissatisfied with her.

Aunt Rina - Aunt Rina is dying at the start of the play. She never appears onstage. She helped Aunt Julle raise Tesman.

Plot Analysis

ACT I (part I)

Analysis: In the first half of this section, Ibsen introduces the main problems that face the characters in Hedda Gabler. This is a sign of a well-structured play. We learn that Tesman's rival, Ejlert Lovborg, is back in town and is once again a threat to Tesman's career. Tesman's marriage to Hedda was based on the assumption that he would quickly earn a post at the university, but Ejlert's reappearance and success may stand in Tesman's way.
We also learn that Hedda and Tesman do not have a perfect relationship. Hedda is clearly of a higher class than Tesman. Even before she enters, we see that Berte, the servant, is afraid Hedda cannot be pleased. And indeed, when Hedda enters, she immediately complains that Berte has opened the window. Hedda has high standards and is impossible to please. The incident involving Aunt Juliana's hat provides another example of Hedda's obstinate implacable personality. Aunt Juliana had decided to wear the hat especially for Hedda, but Hedda criticizes it.
Tesman warns Hedda to be nicer to Aunt Juliana, which shows that he recognizes Hedda's rudeness but refuses to acknowledge the real problem--that Hedda is spoiled and treats him just as badly as she does Berte and Juliana. Hedda's disregard for Tesman's feelings is illustrated by her refusal to look at his beloved slippers. Moreover, although Ibsen never makes it explicit, Tesman's reference to the fact that Hedda has been gaining weight indicates that she is now pregnant, and Hedda's refusal to admit that she has begun to fill-out physically hints at her problematic relationship with being pregnant and also with Tesman, the assumed father of the child. Tesman remains unaware of the pregnancy, another indication that their relationship suffers from a lack of openness and awareness and that they may be headed toward some serious problems later in the play. Although they never come directly into conflict, the tension between them is the basis for much of the tragedy in Hedda Gabler.

ACT I (Part II)

Analysis: It is clear that Hedda is smarter than Mrs. Elvsted and can easily manipulate her. She tricks her into divulging her secrets. Plainly, Hedda suspects Mrs. Elvsted of having an affair with Lovborg, but it is unclear why Hedda is so interested in him. She may have her own romantic aspirations, or she may be thinking of Tesman's career, though she later expresses little interest with Tesman's interest in "earning a living."
Mrs. Elvsted, meanwhile, is apparently a woman who goes from one man to the next, according to her need. She becomes one man's governess, then later becomes his wife. Now it seems that, suffering under her present husband's neglect, she has become attached to the tutor whom her first husband hired. Yet because we know that Ejlert has published a scholarly book and we see from her interactions with Hedda that Mrs. Elvsted is easily manipulated, we wonder if Ejlert, much smarter than Mrs. Elvsted, is leading her on.
When Tesman learns that he may not receive the position at the university, we gain insight into his personal weakness. At the very beginning of the play, Tesman comes off as a lovesick but otherwise dignified man; here we begin to see him as a coward. Ibsen is carefully revealing the flaws of all of his characters; by the end of the play, we will not be rooting for a protagonist so much as regretting a general tragedy.

ACT II (Part I)

Analysis: The primary function of the beginning of Act 2 is the development of Hedda and Brack's relationship. Although it is not necessarily sexual, it has the flavor of adultery. Hedda's high level of comfort with Brack is clear from her willingness to complain to him about her marriage. When talking alone to Tesman or Mrs. Elvsted, she seems to be manipulating them or merely whining. But here she seems to be truly revealing her grievances.
Because we hear Hedda speak more or less honestly for the first time here, we learn just how cold her feelings toward Tesman are. Tesman's private conversations with Brack and Aunt Julia center on the cost of pleasing Hedda materially, especially on the expense of the house, but now we learn that the house basically means nothing to Hedda. Not only do her tastes outstrip those of Tesman and his aunt, but she also appears mentally superior, for they seem unable to comprehend her dissatisfaction.
The end of this part features a telling exchange in which Hedda declares that not only is she sure that she is not pregnant, she also has no taste for things that "make a claim on her freedom." This has implications that go beyond her relationship with Tesman. In fact, they touch not only on the tragic nature of her quest for freedom from the burdens of being a wife and a mother, but also on her relationship with Brack. In many ways, Brack is one of her best friends, but, at the same time, she seems to resent the extent to which he tries to control her. This resentment will blossom later on in the play.

ACT II (Part II)

Analysis: We learn that the woman who Mrs. Elvsted was worried about, the woman from Ejlert's past who threatened him with pistols, was Hedda. This was suggested at the end of Act 1, when Hedda goes to play with her pistols. Ibsen often hints at the true nature of a relationship before making it clear.
Hedda clearly keeps Ejlert in a fairly high regard, yet she does not refrain from manipulating him, causing him to drink after years of abstinence. She seems to enjoy semi-adulterous relationships with men not because she admires the men but because she wants to control them. A key method in controlling Brack and Ejlert, apparently, is to make them think that she wants to keep them in her confidence without letting Tesman know: when Tesman nears the couch where she and Ejlert are talking, she quickly changes the subject.
At the same time, one often wonders at Hedda's sanity. Because this is a play, not a novel, we gain no access to the characters' thoughts. Ibsen does not even include soliloquies or asides, during which the audience might hear a character's inner reflections. When Hedda pretends to fire at Brack, it could be merely the playfulness of a capricious girl or it could indicate incipient insanity.

ACT III (Part I)

Analysis: At the beginning of Act 3, it is clear that something has gone wrong. The women have been up all night. Berte offers to fix the fire, but the selfless Mrs. Elvsted urges her to let it die down and save firewood. However, when Hedda awakes she demands that the fire be brought back to life. This refers to the themes of the play's beginning, specifically to Berte's anxiety to please Hedda. Yet at the same time, much has happened since the beginning of the play. At the beginning of Act 3, one wonders if the climax of the play has been reached, offstage, at Brack's stag party.
The matter of Ejlert's manuscript is a curious one. Although Tesman is quite anxious to return it, his reasons for picking it up seem feeble: his admission of fleeting jealousy confirms the rivalry that was already apparent. This scene also evinces Tesman's bookishness, as he characterizes as the highlight of the party the moments when he was being read to by Ejlert and nervously refers to the rest of the evening as an "orgy."

ACT III (Part II)

When Hedda murmurs to herself about Ejlert's vine leaves, it is clear that she is disappointed and surprised. When she kept telling Mrs. Elvsted that Ejlert would return with vine leaves in his hair, she was reassuring not only Mrs. Elvsted but also herself. This is one of the few moments of weakness she shows throughout the play. The speed with which she comes to her senses and changes her tone is evidence of her vigilance in maintaining a calm, controlled exterior, even when she is feeling confused on the inside.
Her exchange with Brack also sheds light upon Hedda's character. She asks Brack why he is so forthcoming with information, as if she does not see friendship alone as grounds for confidences. Also, her earlier comment about not wanting to be controlled makes more sense once she describes Brack as being someone who wants to be the "only cock in the yard": although she makes light of it, she is clearly threatened by Brack.
As Act 3 comes to a close, the audience comes to understand more clearly Hedda's ability to deceive those around her, in complete disregard of their thoughts and feelings. At one moment she seeks to comfort Ejlert. By seeming to understanding his desire to kill himself, she at least seems to sympathize with him. Yet she does not seek to prevent his death by returning the manuscript; instead, she burns it, thinking only of venting her own frustrations at the relationship between Ejlert and Mrs. Elvsted. Further, while her willingness to give him one of her father's pistols shows that she takes him seriously, it also shows that she thinks of Ejlert more as an object than as a person; she wants him to die beautifully.

ACT IV (Part I)

Analysis: Aunt Julia's final appearance in the play is intensely ironic. At the beginning of the play, when Aunt Julia first visited, the room was bright with morning sunlight. But Hedda immediately said that it was too bright and closed the window. Now, largely because of Hedda's actions-her cold treatment of others, her encouragement of Ejlert in his suicide, her burning of the manuscript-the room has been "darkened" in a symbolic sense, while also becoming literally dark with the fall of evening and the donning of the black clothes of mourning. Aunt Julia's cheerful suggestions that Hedda might be pregnant seem wildly naive in light of all that has transpired.
When Tesman approves of Hedda's decision not to give the manuscript back to Ejlert, it becomes increasingly clear that he half hopes the manuscript will never be returned. All the same, his conscious intentions seem to be good, until he learns that Hedda has burned the manuscript. At this news, he avoids the question of whether this was right or wrong, instead focusing on how much Hedda must love him. The fact that this joy repulses Hedda only shows how wildly inaccurate his assumptions were. It remains unclear what she was about to tell him, but given Aunt Julia's hints at pregnancy, it is easy to think that she was with child. More likely perhaps, she was going to tell Tesman about Ejlert's imminent death.
Hedda's interest in how Ejlert died proves that she cares more for the beauty of his death than for his well-being. This is contrasted by the behavior of Mrs. Elvsted, who is deeply sad.

ACT IV (Part II)

Tesman's desire to dedicate his life to reconstructing Ejlert's manuscript shows the fickleness and smallness of his character. A few moments earlier, he had been elated that Hedda would destroy the manuscript, but now he is horrified that Ejlert is dead, and he is eager to restore the manuscript. It seems that he always tries to act appropriately, whatever the situation, regardless of over-arching principle. Also, it is possible that he is eager to work with Mrs. Elvsted. Earlier, in Act 1, Hedda hints that Mrs. Elvsted may have been involved with Tesman at some earlier date. At any rate, when Tesman plans for he and Mrs. Elvsted to meet daily at his Aunt's to work, one cannot help but imagine an affair, given that Mrs. Elvsted also met her current husband by coming to work for him. Hedda hints at this possibility when she says she is sure Mrs. Elvsted will inspire Tesman.
When Hedda learns of the ugliness of Ejlert's death, she is disgusted for the second time in Act 4-the first time being when she was repulsed by Tesman's joy. She commits suicide in the belief that there is no escape from a disappointing life. (An additional interpretation would be that she wants to demonstrate what a beautiful death is, assuming she has shot herself in the head.) The events of the act have been hinted at throughout the play, beginning with the end of Act 1 when Hedda goes to play with her pistols out of boredom; once again, she has turned to her pistols to alleviate her world-weariness and sense of tedium.

Study Questions on Hedda Gabler (1890)

1. How do we know that Hedda is a dishonest character? How does she control others?
2. What is the importance of the character of Aunt Julle?
3. Do any of the characters grow over the course of the novel?
4. Is there any symbolism in Hedda Gabler?
5. Is Ejlert Lovborg a hero?
6. What are Judge Brack's motives in overseeing Tesman's finances?
7. What clashes between aristocracy and the bourgeoisie does this play reveal?
8. How does Hedda view her marriage? What were her motives for marrying Tesman?
9. Of all the characters in the play, who seems to be closest to Tesman? Whom can Tesman most trust?
10. Could this play take place in contemporary society or is its situation unique to turn-of-the-century Norway?

Suggestions for Further Reading

http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/gabler/essays/

Two Online Essays:
"Social Power in Hedda Gabler" by Marleigh Russell (Nov. 25,2002)
"The Doomed Enslavement of the Individual in Capitalist Society as Viewed by Marx" by Theoderek Wayne (Oct. 27, 2001)

Fjelde, Rolf, ed. Ibsen: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965.

Goldman, Michael. Ibsen: The Dramaturgy of Fear. New York: Columbia UP, 1999.

Johnston, Brian. Text and Supertext in Ibsen's Drama. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 1989.

Marker, Frederick and Lise-Lone. Ibsen's Lively Art: a Performance Study of the Major Plays. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989.

McFarlane, James, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.

Meyer, Hans-George. Henrik Ibsen. Trans. Helen Sebba. New York: Ungar, 1972.

Mueller, Janet. "Ibsen's Wild Duck." In Modern Drama. Volume eleven, Number four, February 1969. pp. 347-355.
Northam, John. Ibsen: A Critical Study. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1973.

Shaw, Bernard. Major Critical Essays: The Quintessence of Ibsenism. The Perfect Wagnerite. The Sanity of Art. London: Constable, 1932.

Tammany, Jane Ellert. Henrik Ibsen's Theatre Aesthetic and Dramatic Art. New York: Philosophical Library, 1980.

(Source: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heddagabler/analysis.html)
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