One’s own Freedom is what one desires to control the most in life. Yet in both Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Hedda and Meursault do not have this influence over themselves, because external factors force them to live their lives according to the society they live in. In both Hedda Gabler and The Stranger the main character are constantly reminded of the life they do not want through ordinary objects that typically represent life. By destroying them, Hedda and Meursault are trying to gain control of their lives and freedom. Eventually, the character realises that the only way they can truly gain this freedom is by the death of themselves rather than things around them.
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...
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...ting these acts of symbolic or literal deaths Hedda and Meursault are trying to gain control of their own lives again. However, both realise that the only way they can achieve absolute control of their freedom is rather from their own deaths. Camus is conveying the message that one does not need to live by society’s standards to be happy, because it will lead to becoming a conformist rather than becoming an individual. Meanwhile, Ibsen is trying to convey the opposite; that the only way one can find happiness and serenity is by living the way society expects, for if one tries to break free from the system all they will achieve is loneliness and misery.
Works Cited
Albert Camus. The Stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Random House, inc., 1988.
Henrik Ibsen. Hedda Gabler. Trans. Edmung Goose and William Archer. Stilwell, KS: Digireada.com Publishing, 2005.
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
...he world, which causes him to encounter a form of enlightenment that makes him come to realization of the true world. The realization of the world sprouts the idea that the universe is indifferent and life has no true meaning. Because Meursault realizes that the universe is indifferent to people and that he makes no importance to the world, he is reborn to a life that makes sense to him. The nonexistent emotions from the first part and the outburst of emotions from the second part cause a juxtaposition of Meursault as a character in the two sections. Camus uses elemental diction and sentence structure to portray this change in character and his acceptance of the universe around him. He accepts his death, finding that his life is truly meaningless, and believes that his life is a model for the philosophical ideas that he has come in terms with.
Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. Four Major Plays. Trans. James Arup. Ed. James McFarlane. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998.
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.
Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2000. 127. The Ibsen, Henrik.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that throughout the play Hedda’s greed to gain power over her friends, pushes her to do unthinkable things otherwise. “I went and burnt the manuscript.” For her husbands “sake” Hedda goes and burns
Ibsen, Henrik. Four Major Plays: A Doll House, the Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, the Master Builder. New York: New American Library, 1992.
On the surface, one might not find much overtly attractive about Camus’s cold philosophy expressed by Meursault in the cell he spiritually shares with all people awaiting inevitable deaths as the universe watches on with indifference, but there is a freedom that comes with letting go of hope that tries to cover up fear. If society tries to prosecute each person with the moral guilt of those that have been buried, it is liberating to reject those presumptions of guilt. There is a happiness that can be found in that freedom and an appealing strength in being able to face the howls of execration from the spectators of every individual’s march toward death in a benign, indifferent universe.
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
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
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...
Hedda asks herself, “Oh, why does everything I touch become mean and ludicrous? It’s like a curse!” This comment emphasizes the fact that her ennui is affecting all of those around her. It has caused her to become nihilistic and wreak havoc on the lives of others for her own amusement.
Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Trans. Michael Meyer. Third Edition. New York: Norton, 1981. 1443-1507.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 1564-1612.
At the end, the fact that a middle-class family is portrayed makes the entire series of events relatable to a modern audience and is effective in evoking a reaction and truly portrays the genre. The symbolism used shows the fatal flaw of the tragic heroine, the issues in society Ibsen wanted to be tackled and the death of an individual as well as the death of a family, therefore, conveying the key components of a modern domestic tragedy.