Themes in Hedda Gabler

1650 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of hedda gabler

Hedda Gabler

According to John T. Shipley, Hedda Gabler "…presents no social theme" (333). He asserts this argument with evidence that the themes that are presented in the play are of no importance with relevance to the time period it was written. Although John R. Shipley might have a prevalent argument, the social topics that are presented in Hedda Gabler are timeless and are present even in today’s world as they were long before the time of Hedda Gabler. Therefore, Mr. John T. Shipley is mistaken when stating that there is a lack of social themes in Hedda Gabler because issues such as “bourgeoisie” versus aristocracy, social class, public image, scandal, and gender sexuality flood the entire plot of the play.

The character of Hedda Gabler centers on society and social issues. Her high social rank is indicated from the beginning as Miss Tesman speaks of Hedda riding with her father in the long black skirt and the feather in her hair (Wingard 1167). Upon Hedda's first appearance, she makes many snobbish remarks. First, she turns up her nose at George's special handmade slippers. Later, she insults Aunt Julie's new hat, pretending to mistake it for the maid's. Hedda seems to despise everything about George Tesman and his “bourgeoisie” life. She demands much more class than he has been able to provide her. After all, she was the beautiful and charming daughter of General Gabler and deserved nothing but the finest.

As the character of Hedda Gabler develops, the reader learns that she has only married George Tesman for one selfish reason; Hedda’s father's passing left her no significant financial wealth, nothing but a respectable legacy. She tells Judge Brack of her decision to marry Tesman: "I really had danced m...

... middle of paper ...

...roughout the play she blows off Tesman and his middle class lifestyles, holding on to the honorable past with which her father provided her. Taking into consideration the suggestions of the social issues overflowing from Hedda Gabler above, it can not be denied that the very theme of Hedda Gabler centers on social issues. Jan Setterquist says it best, "Hedda Gabler is... indirectly a social parable" (166).

Works Cited

- Ibsen, Henrik Hedda Gabler. 1890. Ed. Joel Wingard Literature: Reading and Responding

to Fiction, Drama, and the Essay. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996.

- Setterquist, Jan. Ibsen and the Beginnings of Anglo-Irish Drama. New York: Gordian

Press, 1974. 46 - 49, 58 - 59, 82 - 93, 154 - 166.

- Shipley, Joseph T. The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays. New York: Crown

Publishers, Inc., 1984. 332 - 333.

Show More
Related

  • Adultery in Literature: Comparing 'The Scarlet Letter' and 'Chicago'

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Hester’s community it is looked down to have an affair while you are married even if you do feel alone and otherwise able to do so. Hester Prynne was having an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, was away. While she was having the affair she was commiting a sin that will lead to severe consequences. This can also relate to the movie film Chicago where Roxie

    Read More

  • The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike today, women in the 1850’s did not have rights to do many things. Women had limited freedom, but Hester Prynne stood up for her rights and beliefs. Not only she was a feminist character in book, but also the people and their cultures and religion made her that way. In the book, it says that she is beautiful, tall, thin, and dignified woman. She is also said to be good with decorating and making clothes and helps the poor by donating clothes to them. She is not a woman who just sins and be proud of herself. Throughout the story, Hester Prynne tries not to sin and penitent what she did and helps...

    Read More

  • Hedda Gabler Analysis

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hedda Gabler is a text in which a very domineering society drives a woman to her suicidal death. Many argue that Hedda’s death is an act of courage, as rebellion against the rules of the society, however other believe that Hedda’s actions show cowardice, as she is unable to cope with the harsh reality of the her situation. Hedda's singular goal throughout the play has been to prove that she is still in possession of free will. Hedda shows many examples of both courage and cowardice throughout the play, differing to the character she is with.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Truth in A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler

    3087 Words  | 7 Pages

    Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. Four Major Plays. Trans. James Arup. Ed. James McFarlane. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998.

    Read More

  • What Is Social Determinism In The Note From Underground?

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hedda married Tesman, an academic student who supposed to have a potential success, not because she loves him, but just because as she said “It was a great deal more than any of my other admirers were offering”. In this quote she is showing her real feelings meaning that she never loves him and she just married him because he was the best option among the

    Read More

  • Unrelenting Selflessness In The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    When being questioned on the identity of her child’s father, Hester unflinchingly refuses to give him up, shouting “I will not speak!…my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!” (47). Hester takes on the full brunt of adultery, allowing Dimmesdale to continue on with his life and frees him from the public ridicule the magistrates force upon her. She then stands on the scaffold for three hours, subject to the townspeople’s disdain and condescending remarks. However, Hester bears it all “with glazed eyed, and an air of weary indifference.” (48). Hester does not break down and cry, or wail, or beg for forgiveness, or confess who she sinned with; she stands defiantly strong in the face of the harsh Puritan law and answers to her crime. After, when Hester must put the pieces of her life back together, she continues to show her iron backbone and sheer determination by using her marvelous talent with needle work “to supply food for her thriving infant and herself.” (56). Some of her clients relish in making snide remarks and lewd commends towards Hester while she works, yet Hester never gives them the satisfaction of her reaction.

    Read More

  • Ibsen's Hedda Gabler

    1925 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hedda is a product of the nineteenth century, when women were ordained to become either proper old maids (like George's aunts) or modest housekeepers (like Mrs. Elvsted), however Hedda is an anomaly. She has been raised by a dominating father and rebels against his leadership at the same time she revels in his power. General Gabler taught Hedda to ride and shoot, which symbolizes the origin of her attraction with the violent and the romantic, Hedda's intense preoccupation with pistols, her desire to have control over the fate of another individual and take part in the public life of men, her rejection of family life shown in her at times mal...

    Read More

  • Powerful Female Characters in Theater

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    according to the plot of her own play. Hedda finds a “way out” after the internal conflict

    Read More

  • Hedda Gabler Tragic Hero

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hedda Gabler is a play with an undoubtedly interesting main character; Hedda herself. While she may have her faults, neurotic traits and undeniable issues it would be glaringly ignorant to ignore the fact that she is, above all a tragic victim. In order to properly showcase how Hedda falls somewhat perfectly into the mould of a tragic victim we must first figure out what exactly a tragic victim is. The most prominent and fitting description seems to come from the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his ‘Poetics’, while his definition is actually of a tragic hero instead of victim it is never the less still an extremely accurate definition and is still able to depict both victims and heroes equally well; he tells us that a tragic victim –or hero- is usually of noble birth, had a tragic flaw that usually leads to their downfall, be a character that the audience can relate to and feel pity or fear for and that the fall of the character is at least partially of their own making. By this definition Hedda is most certainly a tragic victim, and there is little room to argue against this.

    Read More

  • The Range of Emotions in the Novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathanial Hawthorne

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, was a courageous and honorable person; even though, what she had been known for wasn’t such an admirable deed. Hester Prynne was a very strong person in one’s eyes, because even though she had been publically humiliated in front of all of Boston, she still remained confident in herself and her daughter. She was ordered to wear a scarlet colored piece of fabric, with the letter “A” embroidered in gold on it, on her bosom at all times to show that she had committed adultery. She was mocked all the time and constantly looked down upon in society, because of her sin; but instead of running away from her problems, she st...

    Read More

  • Hedda Gabler’s Freedom and Repression as Understood through the Analysis of a Key Passage

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    This passage from the denouement Henrik Ibsen’s play, Hedda Gabler, before Hedda’s suicide, is an illustration of the vulnerability and defeat of the impetuous and manipulative titular character. Ibsen develops Hedda’s character by uncovering details about the conflicts between Hedda and the other characters, Judge Brack, Mrs Elvsted, and George Tesman which highlight Hedda’s transformation from an individualistic to despairing individual, conveying the theme of freedom and repression in society.

    Read More

  • Social Issues in Hedda Gabler

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    In considering the many implications of the social issues as explained above, it can not be denied that the very theme of Hedda Gabler centers on social issues. "Hedda Gabler is ...indirectly a social parable" (Setterquist 166).

    Read More

  • Hedda Gabler Gender Roles

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    If Hedda had been born a man, her life would be very different. Hedda would have had more control over her economic and social status, as well as the decision about whom can she marry. As a woman, Hedda could not do any of these things, and though Hedda had accepted the control of a powerful and important man, like her father General Hedda in her life, she could not accept her husband George's power over her, loving and gentle as he was. Therefore, the guns can only be toys for her; Hedda can never have the power that represented her father. Another symbol is the manuscript. It represents intellectual power and can influence the world just as her father dis with his military status and power.

    Read More

  • Hedda Gabler Analysis

    1553 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote brings light to how Hedda acts on a daily basis where she is driven by possessions. In Hedda Gabler the theme of internal pressure is portrayed throughout the play. This can be seen through Hedda’s greed and materialism, her uncaring attitude and her manipulative personality. Firstly, Hedda is shown as a very uncaring person towards the people around her.

    Read More

  • Naturalism In Hedda Gabler

    2105 Words  | 5 Pages

    Later she insults “Aunt Juliana 's new hat, pretending to mistake it for the servant’s” (Act II, 184-85). Hedda seems to despise everything about George Tesman and his middle class existence. She demands much more class than he has been able to provide her, for she was the beautiful, charming daughter of General Gabler and deserved nothing but the finest. As the character of Hedda Gabler develops, the reader learns that she has only married George Tesman because her father 's passing away left her no significant financial resources, nothing but a respectable heritage. She tells Brack of her decision to marry Tesman: "I really had danced myself out. My day was done. ... And George Tesman – the very model of rectitude. ... There 's a good possibility he might make something of himself, after all. ...It was more than my other admirers were prepared to do for me, my dear Judge." (Act II, 88-105). Hedda needed someone to support her financially, and George Tesman was the only decent man to propose to her. She was forced to cross beneath her social class and marry this commoner in the hopes that he would make a name

    Read More

More about Themes in Hedda Gabler

Open Document