Freedom in "Hedda Gabler" Essay

Judge Brack is introduced into Hedda Gabler as a man of authority, which allows him to able to aid George Tesman and act as his financial planner. As a great help to Tesman and Hedda, the couple “can’t thank you [Judge Brack] sufficiently” in expressing their gratitude and the great help that Brack is, being a man of power (Ibsen 20). By lending a hand to George and Hedda, this exploits the friendship between the three characters. If Judge Brack was not a friend to the couple, then he would not assist them in their accumulating debt. It is shown that Judge Brack does help George regarding his financial needs even when they are involved with Eilert Lövborg, the professor. Although Hedda does acknowledge Brack’s effort in improving her and her husband’s financial situation by

Many of Ibsen's plays contain criticism regarding marriage, which portrays a dominant and complex female character that are generally trapped in unhappy and unsatisfied marriages due to the Victorian era traditions (Richard Chang and Richkie Chiu). Hedda Gabler (1890) is one of his well known plays, that contains a family's character with that role. Hedda plays the role of the primary female character, she struggles to find her spot in her new life, and adjusting to her dominant side, due to that she will never become

Hester is introduced as a beautiful and graceful young woman. Although she has committed adultery, she is prideful and has force of character. Her situation does not stop her to present herself in front of everyone with class. I believe that is very admirable. Although she is being disgraced and ridiculed in front of everyone she knows, she does not show she is hurt. Hester Prynne is brave not only is she judged for her actions, but so is her baby. Although the child has done nothing wrong it is seen as the offspring of adultery, and the mother’s sin. The child is used to make Hester reveal the father of the infant but she refuses, once again proving her determination and force of character. As expected the crowd does not welcome Hester.

In nearly everything she does, as a young child, she finds immense pleasure. However, the forest is also a safe place. the unhappy culprit sustained herself as best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes all fastened upon her, and concentrated on her bosom. Her existence came from what Puritanism deems “evil”. Hester demonstrates human naturalness by obeying her instinctual urges and having a relationship with Reverend Dimmesdale.

One of Hedda's main points in life is to control her position in society. She does everything in her power to avoid any type of scandal in the community and to go along with the norms of society. This occurs with her decision of marrying George Tesman, even though she had feelings

The judicious actions foreshadow disaster. Having no control over their relationship, she maximizes this opportunity of diverting his life. Although she is conservative, she also tries pushing the boundaries by continually being discontented, as opposed to what is expected of women during that era, and thus she is a victim of society. Her curiosity towards the outside world is a result of her being trapped indoors and explains her jealousy towards Lövborg, Thea or anybody who has freedom. Hedda withholds and controls her emotions; nonetheless this gives the audience an impression that she is mysterious and secretive.

Hedda tears down everyone throughout the play, with Lövborg and Brack as the only exception. After being born to a high standing family, her expectations of power are high, but due to her biologic form as a woman she is trapped and unable to take control, “because Hedda has been imprisoned since girlhood by the bars of Victorian propriety, her emotional life has grown turbulent and explosive” (Embler). However, after succumbing to marriage with Tesman, whom she only marries for money and respect, she loses her place in society as she, as a mere woman, cannot retain it. This slowly unwinds Hedda and eventually leads her on to her fatal path. By

Hedda arouses sympathy from the readers through her own personal conflicts. She is a woman trapped by herself in a loveless marriage to an “ingenuous creature” (52 Ibsen) named George Tesman. Tesman is a simple soul with very little to offer. Not only is he an entire social class below Hedda, but he is oblivious, insecure due to his own banalities, and overly reliant on his Aunts’, despite being thirty-three-years-old. Hedda married George due to a “bond of sympathy. . .” (31 Ibsen) formed between them and she “took pity. . .” (31 Ibsen) on George. This brings a sense of sincerity to Hedda that was not turned to such a high magnitude preceding this discussion between Judge Brack and herself. Hedda is a lonely, yet independent, soul that wants sexual freedom without

In Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the author reveals the oppressive qualities of minority groups who seek to express individuality rather than conformity. The most critical population that Ibsen chooses to address in the play are women living in Western Europe during the Victorian era. When considering Norwegian culture during the 1800s, Ibsen refers to his surrounding society as an environment where women are unable to look forward to anything other than marriage and motherhood (Lyons 164). Ibsen’s country is inclusive of issues relating to alcoholism, prostitution, exploitation, and poverty (Lyons 128). As a result, the only respectable lifestyle for many women is domestication. To confront these issues,

Ibsen uses the relationship and conflict between Hedda and Brack to illustrate Hedda’s struggle to assert her free will and power in a male-dominated society. The two characters are united as social equals who are members of the aristocracy as

Hedda has been interpreted as an “unreal, as a defective woman, as vicious and manipulative in nature, as a failed New Woman, or as a woman who is afraid of sex” (Björklund 1). She also could be seen as a woman who is afraid of sex or her own sexuality because homosexuality wasn’t accepted like it is today. According to Björklund, “Hedda’s masculinity defeats the dysfunctional masculinities of Tesman and Lovborg, but, in the bathe with Brack’s hegemonic masculinity, Hedda’s female masculinity becomes absorbed into the dominant structures. Hedda desires masculinity as represented by Brack—power and control—but, in the end, that masculinity is what kills her; she shoots herself with one of her father’s pistols, and her masculinity is absorbed into the patriarchy. Hedda’s masculinity is rejected, but what it represents—power and control—is mirrored by Brack, whose masculinity is reconstructed: he is the one cock of the walk” (Björklund

Hedda Gabler is a text in which jealousy and envy drive a woman to manipulate and attempt to control everyone in her life. The protagonist, Hedda, shows her jealousy in her interactions with the other characters in the play, particularly with Eilert Loveborg and Thea Elvsted. Because Hedda is unable to get what she wants out of life because of her gender and during the time of the play, her age, she resorts to bringing everyone else down around her. Hedda lets her jealousy get the best of her and because of this she hurts many of the people around her as well as ultimately hurting herself.

For all of these reasons, Hester’s feminist mindset became prevalent throughout the novel. She questions the place of women and becomes heavyhearted when she realizes she does not possess the ability to make an impact. She ponders whether being alive is worth the travesty she believes is engrained

Even after her success of scandals, Hedda realizes that Judge Brack is still the one, who holds the upper hand in all affairs, and to express her “freedom” or at least want for freedom, she states “I am exceedingly glad to think—that you have no sort of hold over me” (p. 55). Her words foreshadow the ending of the play as it prepares the audience for unexpected and uncontrolled actions taken by Hedda. Furthermore, the ultimate outcome of her actions is Tesmun and Thea working together to re-create the manuscript, which Hedda was unprepared for. Tesmun and Thea take over her last place of comfort, as she removes her belongings from the drawing room and the writing

    Hedda Gabler is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in Ibsen.  She has been the object of psychological analysis since her creation.  She is an interesting case indeed, for to "explain" Hedda one must rely on the hints Ibsen gives us from her past and the lines of dialogue that reveal the type of person she is.  The reader never views Hedda directly.  We never get a soliloquy in which she bares her heart and motives to the audience.  Hedda is as indifferent to our analysis as she is to Tesman's excitement over his slippers when she says "I really don't care about it" (Ibsen  8).  But a good psychologist knows that even this indifference is telling.  Underneath the ennui and indifference