Women's Issues In Hedda Gabler

Theatre is an art form that has been shared across cultures for hundreds of years. This art form is extremely versatile in the types of plays, such as comedic, tragedy, and many other genres. Although theatre is thought of a form of entertainment, playwrights have seized the opportunity to inject political opinions into the play to inform the audience about present issues in their lives. Issues that playwrights have incorporated into plays have included stories that people may not be ready to hear but it encourages the audience to look inside themselves and assess their moral standing on certain issues. One subject that has been incorporated into many plays throughout the last century is women’s issues. These plays have challenged the way women

She was stuck in a loveless marriage with a man she only married for the money, yet some find it selfish that she killed herself at the end. The societal norm of women in the Victorian Era is that they were property of their husbands and had no free will. Hedda challenges that throughout the play as she tries to control people’s lives rather than her life being controlled by others. She makes her own decisions without asking for permission, even if they hurt someone else and benefitted her. When she threatened to no longer have free will due to blackmail from the Judge, Hedda felt that is was more important to remain free and under the influence of no one than continue her life. Another controversial topic from the play is whether she was pregnant. Many women did not like Hedda to begin with because of how manipulative and deceiving she was; she was a femme fatale from 1890. When the play hinted that she might be pregnant, the ending of Hedda killing herself, and ultimately her baby, did not sit well with women. The fact that she could have been pregnant and never gave that baby a chance to live made her decision to kill herself even more selfish that it already was. Hedda’s story may have ended in death but this play was another way for Ibsen to show that women can be independent and get what they want, whether or not it is what society wants. Ultimately,

Although some opinions of this topic may be controversial, Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde used their works, as an outlet, to voice their opinions about the issues they felt needed attention. By utilising their art form in this way, they were able to educate and inform people to get them thinking about what they personally believe about these issues. These plays helped women realise their potential and gave them the power to choose for themselves who they really aspired to