In Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the author addresses issues in the Victorian era through several literary techniques, including symbolism. Ibsen’s protagonist, Hedda, expresses an obsession with Thea Elvsted’s hair, which is “remarkably light, almost a white gold and exceptionally rich and full” (Ibsen 862). Hedda’s hatred for Thea’s favorable hair is an example of the protagonist’s rejection of feminine qualities. Thea’s hair symbolizes the strength of femininity, which Hedda’s masculinity seeks to destroy.
Ibsen uses the adjective “full” to describe Thea’s outstandingly thick hair. Thea is also full of other traits that would be favorable during the 1800s, which would include her ability to live life for men. Victorian era gender roles
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suggested that the ideal woman would commit herself entirely to a man by doing everything possible to satisfy him. Through Thea’s love affair with Lovborg, she is able to think intellectually. Although Mrs. Elvsted is often characterized as weak in comparison to Hedda, she is able to gain power with Lovborg through her full, feminine, soft characteristics, which was the only way many women could progress in the patriarchal society of the 19th century. In addition to her fullness, Thea also has extraordinarily light hair.
By using the adjective “light” to describe Thea’s hair, she can be compared to the sun. The sun has the ability to provide life and encourage growth. Thea acts as a major inspiration to Lovborg in the composition of his most notable book. She is able to provide him with the necessary creativity to write, just as the sun would supply the essential nutrients for a flower to grow. Although Lovborg receives the credit for the genius of his book, without Thea, it would have been impossible for him to create. This is comparable to how humans appreciate the beauty of a flower, with little recognition that it is the sun that enables growth. In the 1800s, marriages worked similarly. While men did obtain the income to support his wife, without her help raising the children and taking care of housework it is likely that the husband would not have been able to accomplish as much. Even though women were seen as the weaker sex, there was extraordinary power in their work. By relating Thea’s hair to the sun, her power as a woman to enable others to grow and succeed is acknowledged.
Throughout the story, Hedda’s desire to burn Thea’s hair is referred to several times. Hedda fails to realize the power in femininity and feels that she must gain her purpose in life through manipulation and hatred. This results in Hedda’s death because she is unable to conform to traditional gender roles. Thea’s simple femininity which is symbolized by her hair illustrates the strength that women have through their ability to commit and care for others, which are admired, necessary traits in society that are often oppressed by
masculinity.
This source provided the unique perspective of what was thought to be the perfect household, with a man who worked and a wife who cooked and cleaned. However, it also showed how a woman could also do what a man can do, and in some cases they could do it even better. This work is appropriate to use in this essay because it shows how men talked down to their wives as if they were children. This work shows the gradual progression of woman equality and how a woman is able to make her own decisions without her husband’s input.
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
...rian housewife in the time period. This is one of the reasons Hedda resents her so much. Hedda wishes to have the rights of the men in her time period, yet she envies Thea’s feminine persona. This is why Hedda shows her courageous personality when associating with Thea. Similar to Hedda’s conversations with Tesman, Hedda uses the same overpowering demeanor when talking with Thea. Hedda shows her courage in order to exert her dominance over thea as well as showing her hate for thea having control over loveborg. To Hedda having dominance over Thea, mean she has dominance over loveborg as well. Hedda shows her dominance over thea whith the wuote, “Now I am burning your child, Thea!—Burning it, curly- locks!” Hedda refers to the book that thea and loveborg had written together as her baby. Thea had put so much of her time and thoughts into her work and Hedda knew that
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.
Ibsen created an environment for women to question the society they lived in. Nora and Hedda, two feminists living in a masculine household bereft of happiness, desired to evade their unhappy life at home under the guidance of a man. Eventually, both women escaped from their husband’s grasp, but Hedda resorted to suicide in order to leave. Nora agreed with Lois Wyse by showing her strengths with pride to everybody, while Hedda hid her strengths like a coward by killing herself. Ibsen used numerous literary elements and techniques to enhance his writing and to help characterize the two protagonists.
The characters in the play are consistent with the stereotypical ones of the Victorian era. Women were expected to get married and stay at home, being seen as unintelligent and fragile. Hedda Gabler is neither of things, thus emphasizing Henrik Ibsen’s point of female oppression in the Victorian era. Hedda’s character does not present the typical affectionate trait a woman would have towards her husband; The idea that women were supposed to get marriage and have children early during the Victorian era. The male role was expected to be extreme dominance over the woman, and to be the bread winner. Henrik Ibsen’s reflection of the Victorian era in the story, Hedda Gabler emphasizes on the social standards imposed upon women and men. The play questions the power dynamics distributed between the two genders, the concept that a woman’s proper role in her marriage is to tend her husband, while the man’s role is to provide for the family and uphold its reputation. Henrik Ibsen presents two characters who are victims of this drastic social code and the measures of both characters have to take in order to structure their ideals around a strict society. When both characters ideals conflict with the social mores of society, the result is often unsatisfying or tragic. For example, Hedda’s lust for power in the story is a trait not often found in women during the Victorian period. The role of power is reserved for only the men in Victorian society. In order to behold power, Hedda sacrifices her stereotypical image as a woman. Hedda does not display the typical loving wife role, but rather adopts a vicious and manipulating female character trait. George Tesman breaks this stereotype as well, by depending on Hedda to get his professorsh...
In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, Nora Helmer portrays the Victorian English archetype of the “angel in the house”, otherwise known as the “doll” metaphor. In the Victorian age, the social construction of gender roles was much more traditional than contemporary gender roles; women had a clear role in society of which they could not escape. A major focus of social construction is to uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the construction of their perceived social reality. As society is revolutionized, people individualize, freeing themselves from the constraints imposed by traditional societies. Nora Helmer represents an antecedaneous model of a feministic viewpoint in an oppressed position. Trapped in her role of the “doll”, Nora struggles to break free, her actions precipitated by her husband, Torvald’s, actions. Weintraub, in his ““Doll’s House” Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction” critical essay, depicts Shaw’s work and proposes the idea that the male protagonist has an immense impact on the female protagonist’s automorphism as “the doll” and the decisions she makes. In Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” Nora’s characterization and ultimate decision to leave can be seen as a struggle against the combination of Torvald and Society’s pressure to conform.
The characters of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House and Hedda Gabler have problems relating to and surrounding their feelings towards the expectations presented to them by their society. The motivation behind their actions denote a fear of losing their respectability and status in their towns while implying a desire to be free of the expectations on them. The looming punishment of losing reputation and credibility in a community forces the characters in these plays to tiptoe around each other while trying to gain an upper hand and not be exposed in a possible scandal. The character’s actions are driven by a fear of losing respect in the community, being deemed disgraceful by neighbors, and damaging the character they have been building in the eyes
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many literal and figurative items to illustrate the significance of various characters or themes. Coupled with the tangible evidence given, the reader can make many miscellaneous assumptions of the importance of these items to directly and indirectly contribute to the issues of the novel. One cryptic item that symbolizes more than it seems to is the appearance of one of the main characters, Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne's appearance and hair signify the levels of will and determination she possesses at the moment.
Women in most cultures have been designated as second to men and in some instances, considered below male children as well. With the passage of time women gained respect and the right for equality. Although gender discrimination remains, a lot of progress has been achieved. Literature is a one of the facets of the human race that reflects the culture change of people. William Shakespeare’s King Lear portrays the patriarchal system of the Renaissance era, which leaves women completely dependent on the male head of household. In Henrik Ibsen’s Doll House, set in the modern era, there is still a patriarchal system but women have just a little more freedom. The article, The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen by Joan Templeton, analyzes the gender subordination in A Doll House. Comparing and contrasting the themes of the two plays followed by consideration of the article’s research on the theme in A Doll House, assists in developing an understanding of the gradual progression of women’s freedom to be their “true selves” through equality with men. The “true self” is a person's character that is masked by a false portrayal designed to appeal to others.
Firstly, Hedda is shown as a very uncaring person towards the people around her. She shows that with many different actions such as when she burns the manuscript she acts as if she hasn’t done anything wrong. Tesman says “Burn’t! Burn’t Eilert’s manuscript!” Hedda says “Don’t scream so. The servant might hear you” Tesman says “Burnt! Why, good God-! No, no, no!
Hedda was raised a lady of the upper class, and as such she regards her beauty with high esteem. This is, in part, the reason she vehemently denies the pregnancy for so long. A pregnancy will force her to gain weight and lose her lovely womanly figure. Hedda has grown accustomed to her many admirers; therefore, Hedda is ...
The nineteenth century was truly a different time for women and what their assumed roles in life would be. Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” is an examination into those assumed roles and a challenge to them. It was a time of obedience and inequality and in the first act each character is shown to portray these qualities. However, the characters in this play have multiple layers that get peeled back as the story progresses. As each new layer is revealed the audience is shown that even with the nineteenth century ideals, the true nature of each character is not quite what they appeared to be initially.
In Hedda Gabler, Hedda becomes destructive towards ordinary objects which remind her of the life that she does not want. Ibsen chooses flowers, veranda doors and a manuscript as these objects because ironically, they symbolise life. These objects ultimately lead to the annihilation of her life for she believes death is the only outlet from her pregnancy- which would be the last factor to losing liberty. When Hedda enters the drawing room the day after her honeymoon, her first complaint is that “fresh air we must certainly have, with all these stacks of flowers” (Ibsen 19). These flowers are a welcome home gift from Mrs Elvsted, therefore symbolizing what Hedda does not want to be reminded of: her new marriage. The life of these flowers reminds her of her own new life, which she does not want, because it means becoming a ‘typically married woman’ rather than an independent one. Therefore at the start of the second scene, “most of the bouquets have been taken away” (Ibsen 36). By getting rid of the flowers, Hedda does not have the consta...
She is also an egotistic character who wants people to respect her and don 't want to stain her respectable name that she inherit from her father, General Gabler. However, in this scene of the play, Hedda is about to stain her respectable name and destroy her reputation because of her scandal with Lovborg. Hedda was a close friend with Lovborg before she got married with George Tesman. They both love their companionship with when Hedda suddenly decisioned to halt it because of Lovborg’s growing intimacy to her. Lovborg confesses his feelings to Hedda stating: “when I made my confessions to you, Hedda” (Act II, 501). Same with Hedda, she is also falling in love with Lovborg. However, Hedda don 't want her friendship with Lovborg end up to be a relationship. Hedda don 't want to have responsibilities to other people when she said to judge Brack: “ I have no talent for that sort of thing, Judge Brack. No responsibilities for me” (Act II, 268-69). According to Hedda, she would rather “ boring herself to death” (Act II, 275) than to have responsibilities to other people. Moreover, according to Hedda, “when our friendship threatened to develop into something more serious” ( Act II, 532-33). That’s why Hedda threatened Lovborg of shooting him, so that Lovborg will avoid her and describes her act as a “ dread of scandal” (Act II, 537). In order to avoid scandal of her past interaction with Lovborg,