The Character of Hedda Gabler
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 lies a character rich for psychological investigation: "The Character of Hedda Gabler remains a product of our speculation. That is, as we process the surface details we perceive in the various postures she assumes, we hypothesize an idea of the figure underneath the mask." (Lyons 83). This paper will try to "explain" Hedda with the aid of critical analysis.
The first aspect of the play that strikes the reader is the title. Before we even read a line of this play we notice the incongruity between the name of the title character and her name in the play. In the play Hedda is Tesman's wife, but the title suggests that she is the independent daughter of the late General Gabler. Thus, Ibsen introduces the reader to this complex character before the curtain is drawn. We immediately ask the question: why is the title "Hedda Gabler" and not "Hedda Tesman"? Perhaps Ibsen is suggesting Hedda's independence from her present situation, the situation in which she is introduce...
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...wman. She too is confused about her own identity and appears to be in the grip of forces beyond her understanding and control--social and psychological forces. Nevertheless, Hedda is an interesting case and Ibsen's play foreshadows many psychological and social concerns of the 20th century.
WORKS CITED
Helland, F. "Irony and Experience in Hedda Gabler." Contemporary Approaches to Ibsen. Ed. Hemmer and Ystad. Norway: Scandinavian UP, 1994. 99-119.
Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.
Lyons, C. Hedda Gabler: Gender, Role, and World. MA: Twayne, 1991.
Northam, J. Ibsen's Dramatic Method: A Study of the Prose Dramas. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1953.
Weigland, H. The Modern Ibsen: A Reconsideration. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1960.
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).
Born Josephine Freda McDonald on June 3, 1906, Josephine Baker was the product of a "footloose merchant of whom the family saw little, and a mother [who] supported herself and the children in a slum hovel by taking in laundry." #
That Henrik Ibsen as a realist writer portrays Hedda as the epitome of a Victorian housewife restricted by Victorian values and confined into a loveless marriage, while being forced to watch as men take her life under their arm. However, Hedda Gabler continuously illustrates these psychological processes of fear and courage, she portrays herself fearless but not courageous, distinguishing the concept of a fearless person rather than someone who is courageous. While Hedda Gabler shows a cold-fearless exterior, she is in heart a coward as she lives through other people, instead of taking her own life into her hands. She hides behind her audacity and Ibsen notes “…Because I have such a dread of scandal. Yes, Hedda, you are a coward at heart. A terrible coward” (Ibsen 40).Her acts are determined by her own disposition as she believes she should be fearless, contaminated by her own criticism she find herself reluctant to believe that her life could change from mediocrity in a Victorian society. She titles herself fearless but by doing so she loses courage to face her repressed fears and takes no responsibility for something she believes she has no control over. Stanley J. Rachman’s Fear and Courage: A Psychological Perspective observes bomb-disposable operators long experience of fear when jumping as they move from courage to
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong was born to Mary and William Armstrong on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up in poverty, and his father left his family while Armstrong was a baby. After his father left, Armstrong and his younger sister Beatrice were passed back and forth between their grandmother and uncle until they moved back in with their mother when Armstrong was five years old. He went to the Fisk School for Boys until he was eleven and experienced a variety of music and dances during his attendance. At eleven years old, Armstrong quit school at the Fisk School for boys. He sang in a quartet of boys who performed for money in the streets. In 1913, he shot his stepfather’s pistol into the air during a New Year’s Eve party, and he was sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs for one year. Armstrong played the cornet in the Home’s band, and they traveled around New Orleans playing at various places. His teacher, Peter Davis, acted as his mentor at this time, and he made Armstrong the leader of the band. It was then that his musical skills began to develop, and he ...
By 1926, Armstrong was hired as featured soloist with the Carroll Dickerson band, at sunset café, for the first time his name was up in lights, as “the world’s greatest trumpet player”. Posters were hanged up advertising Armstrong,”Louis Armstrong in person!” Armstrong and his desire of greatness moved wit ha number of different musical groups, soon realizing that his style was best suited as a smaller ensemble. He played in big popular bands to reach more popularity. Armstrong established jazz as music that pri...
I’ve chosen this statement for several reasons. Ibsen’s character, Hedda Gabler, represents the women of the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Hedda stands the issues of self-worth and the deflated value that each woman places upon her own importance as a result of male dominance.
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.
...o sit down or stand up while we were playin', and I think the industry standard is you sit down." Then vary sarcastically he said; " You know that's the right way to do it because that's the way they do it on MTV." After the crowd's laughter dyed down, he gave giggle that implied MTV standards are a joke and said, " When you're playin' an acoustic instrument you gotta sit down."
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.
musicians. Probably the most notable was Bunk Johnson, who was regarded as the best trumpeter in the city at the time. Johnson taught Armstrong new techniques when playing and allowed him to sit in during performances.
Among the most popular and appreciated musicians of our time, Louis "Satchmo" Armostrong brought a musical presence, technical mastery, and imaginative genius that "so overwhelmed musicians of his day that he became their principle model, leaving an indelible imprint on the music" (Kernfield 27). When reviewing Armstrong's life work, his years with us can be divided into two aspects, his personal life and his music. While giving significant background of Armstrong's life, his paper will also introduce and explain the impact that he had on music and the world of jazz.
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen is a play about Hedda, a woman living in Christiana, Norway in the 1860’s who manipulates others, but her efforts produce negative results. During this era, there were Victorian values and ethics which were followed by almost all. The main values comprised of women always marrying and, their husbands taking care of them. Women were always accompanied by chaperone and were not allowed to be left alone with an unfamiliar male. It was Bertrand Russell who said “It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly”. 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.
Armstrong had redefined the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” “His virtuosic abilities awed jazz enthusiasts and word quickly spread.” The lyrics to Armstrong’s songs was not the only reason why he was considered a symbol to Jazz. His passion to sing and his fluent voice created a fiction between him and his fans which created his fame. His perspective of Jazz gives him help on how to make his music stand out from other musicians. “Armstrong expresses his musical freedom through rhythmic improvisation.” He was credited with the invention of scat-singing which is using syllables instead of words. When Armstrong uses scat-singing in his songs, it creates a different way to play jazz and it shows that you are your
Hedda Gabler is.indirectly a social parable" (Setterquist 166). Works Cited 1. What is the difference between a. and Ibsen, Henrik. A. Hedda Gabler. The Bedford Introduction to Drama.
After “A Doll’s House” Ibsen wrote another masterpiece, Hedda Gabler. Different from “A Doll House”, it shows none of Ibsen’s reforming zeal like the emancipation of women in “A Doll’s House”. Rather, it is about a study of a complex figure, Hedda. Hedda had a defected sense of morality. She manipulated everyone who was around her, yet we still feel pity for her. It is because she is a tortured figure caught in the midst of the society, a tormented soul who never gets a grasp of her own destiny. At last, she chose death as her solution to escape or rebel against her destiny.