Quotes From Hedda Gabler

An early example of this is how she handles her service to others. Even while being harassed by the general public, Hester Prynne continues to make these sacrifices which are only rewarded with hatred and insults. Hester foregoes her own pleasures, except for the lavish “decoration of her infant,” and bestows the rest of her wealth “on wretches less miserable than herself” (Hawthorne 75). She even continues to aid the poor despite the fact that they “not unfrequently insulted the hand that fed them” (Hawthorne 75). Despite the fact that it was in Hester’s best interests not to aid those around her, she continued to do so. This evidences her sheer strength of character as the heroine of the novel. Hester’s loyalty is also magnified by her selfless nature, as her willingness to sacrifice lends itself well to remaining loyal to others. Hester also selflessly bears the burden of the entire community’s sin. Hester “perceives the ‘hidden sin in other hearts’ around her” and because her sin has been uncovered, “she alone bears the penalty for deviancy” (Taylor). A prime example of this is once again her refusal to reveal Dimmesdale as her child’s father. In resisting their efforts to uncover him, Hester states to the clergy: “I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (Hawthorne 63). Here, her loyalty is greatly supplemented by her willingness to suffer in place

     Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a dark tale of sin and redemption,centers around the small Puritan community of Boston during the 17th century. In the midst of this small community is Hester Prynne. She is a woman that has defied the Puritans, taken the consequences and in the end conformed with the Puritans. It did,

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

Hedda is equally rebellious and independent in her choices as Desdemona. Hedda is also a newly wed and has just come back from her honeymoon with Jürgen Tesman. In a traditional society, it is custom for a woman to take the last name of their husband. This custom is recognized in societies everywhere, but Hedda becomes the exception. She is the only character that refuses to take her husband’s name. Hedda, being the stubborn rebellious individual does not conform to this tradition because it takes her identity away from her. Ibsen called his play Hedda Gabler to symbolize the break away from the traditions of society. The use of her maiden name symbolizes her independence, which she affirms repeatedly

The first way we see that Hester doesn't conform to the norms of society and follows rugged individualism is when she is accused of adultery. This act alone made her stick out because in the Puritan society it was looked down upon. Since this act was so looked down upon nobody was ever caught doing it because it would bring a feel of shame to the person. However, Hester instead of feeling ashamed of her actions she simply realized her mistake and tried to move forward with her life. This is stated in chapter one by saying "burning blush, and yet a haughty smile" (Hawthorne pg. 52) while Hester may act embarrassed at first she lets go of her embarrassment and instead embraces her punishment in order to later on move forward. This is one of the many examples where Hester displays "rugged individualism" because she is sticking out over her crime of adultery, but also because she refused to let herself be brought down because of the accusation that we're constantly being thrown her way. Another example where Hester exposes rugged individualism is when she walks out of the jail with the letter "A" embroider on her gown. "On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded by an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourish of gold thread, appeared the "A" (Hawthorne pg.

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 many aspects, George Tesman too does not see Hedda’s full value as a person, and from the beginning of the play, Ibsen makes this clear. Tesman adores rather than love his wife, proudly viewing her as an object of adornment that makes several of his friends jealous. A scholar who is more devoted to his work than his wife, Tesman spends more time with his books than his wife, even during their honeymoon. In this passage, Ibsen further illustrates this objectification of women. Tesman turns his head away from her because he believes there is “nothing in the world” (32) that Hedda can help Tesman with; Hedda is merely an ornament and not of real use to Tesman. Ibsen’s use of stage direction that depicts Tesman “turning his head” after talking to Hedda both indicate Tesman’s rejection of Hedda as a valuable person and his obliviousness to Hedda and her desperate situation. Tesman’s imperceptiveness is further highlighted by Ibsen when Hedda “imitates Tesman’s intonation” (16). Also, Hedda’s mimicking of Tesman, which is used earlier in the play as a sign of her contempt, is also used here in this passage by Ibsen to portray Hedda’s desperation. That Hedda would turn to Tesman, a person she dislikes and views as beneath her, as a means of escape, is a clear indication of her despondency and madness, which foreshadow her ultimate act of despair—suicide. Yet Tesman thoughtlessly

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.

Through the characterization of Hedda, Ibsen explores the oppression of woman in the Victorian Era.

Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler introduces its audience to a paradoxical protagonist, Hedda Tesman. Ibsen’s delineation of Hedda presents her as a petty and frivolous woman whose sole motivation is to seek her own amusement with no regard to those around her. If some tragedy had befallen Hedda in her formative years and thus shaped her into the cold, callous woman she would become, Ibsen purposely omits this from this play: whatever judgment the audience might make of Hedda as a character must derive almost exclusively from the behaviors she exhibits in each of the work’s four acts. Ibsen does not intend for his audience to readily sympathize with Hedda. By not endearing Hedda to his audience, the subject of her suicide in the final act is

    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