Sympathy In Hedda

Hedda elicits sympathy from her audience because it is very obvious she is unhappy with her life. Women are suppressed by society and considered inferior to men. That is even more so in this time period. She expresses boredom with the life she has chosen during her conversation with Judge Brack in Act II. She talks of how she has these “impulses” to do these little things, assumingly to add a little spice to her life (Ibsen, Act II). She also mentions that she “[knows] no reason why [she] should be – happy,” clearly expressing the idea (Ibsen, Act II). The fact that she is unhappy with her life, and can do nothing much to change it, draws sympathy from the audience. Her final act of suicide also causes the audience to feel sympathetic. When she realizes Judge Brack has some control over her, she states that she will be “subject to [his] will and [his] demands” and refuses to “endure the thought of that” (Ibsen, Act IV). This thought is what leads her to killing herself, and viewers and readers feel bad that she thought death was better than being suppressed by others even further. Her situation of being suppressed in society

The way she goes about trying to feel in control is looked-down upon by many. Hedda gets her sense of control by controlling aspects of others lives. Because she is suppressed and miserable, she wants to be the cause of others feeling the same way. Many people disagree with this type of thinking, often saying, “you can’t fight fire with fire.” To Hedda though, she thinks this is the only way. She purposely insults people, such as the incident with Aunt Julia’s bonnet (Ibsen, Act I). She is also very deceiving in manner, doing whatever she can to gain information on others she can use for her benefit. An example of this is how she talked Mrs. Elvsted into sharing private facts about Lovborg in Act I, only to use it against both of them at the end of Act II (Ibsen, Act