Hedda Gabler

1. HeddaGabler Themes Henrik Ibsen 1828 –1906) a major 19th-centuryNorwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet.

2. What do you think some of the themes represented in HeddaGabler might be? • Write a few down.

3. Were yours similar to these?

4. Manipulation • Women and Femininity • Wealth • Respect and Reputation • Courage • Appearances • Dreams, Hopes, and Plans • Drugs and Alcohol

5. Manipulation • Hedda is famous as a cold-hearted, manipulative woman. • In this play, her ability to influence others has a lot to do with her sexuality and good looks. • Because women can’t seek power through careers or scholarship, Heddaseeks it through controlling others.

6. Answer these questions: • Hedda declares to Thea that she has never had power over anyone: is this true? What prompts her to make such a statement? • Who has more power over EilertLøvborg – Thea or Hedda – and why?

7. Answer these questions: • When the play begins, who is in the power seat in the relationship between Hedda and the Judge? What about when he tries to blackmail her? What about when Hedda commits suicide? How do the dynamics of their relationship shift over the course of the play?

8. Find a quote: Find a quote that supports the theme of manipulation. Write it down, along with the act and line number and then give a brief explanation of the context of the quote.

9. Women and Femininity • HeddaGabler takes place in Norway in the late 1800s. Women are restricted by Victorian values and prevented from having any real lives of their own. As such, they exist only in relation to men. The women in this play all seek to solve one fundamental problem: what to do with their lives.

10. Answer these questions: • How is femininity defined in HeddaGabler? Who is more feminine, Hedda or Thea? • What is it about Mrs.Elvsted that makes Hedda jealous? • Why are so many men in love with Hedda?

11. Wealth • HeddaGabler explores a marriage between an aristocratic woman and a seemingly middle-class man. Wealth is a constant barrier between them, not only as far as money is concerned but also in regards to class.

12. Interests, mannerisms, even personalities and friendships, are all tied to class. Because of this, the notion of "rich" and "poor" is often more about power, influence, and reputation than it is about cash.

13. Answer these questions: • Is money the only reason Hedda apparently hates her husband? What is it about him that irritates her the most? • Hedda claims that she married Tesman because he promised to give her everything she wanted. Is this really why she tied the knot?

14. Answer these questions: • Eilert tells George that he won’t compete for the professorship because he only wants to win in the eyes of the world. Why doesn’t he care about money? What exactly does he care about instead?

15. Respect and Reputation • In HeddaGabler, playing by society’s rules is often more important than human life. Set in the late 1800s, the characters are constrained by Victorian values, particularly when it comes to sex. Because so many sexual topics are taboo, many of the conversations and machinations can be understood only in subtext and innuendos.

16. The threat of public scandal hangs constantly over the characters’ heads, threatening to ruin social status, and therefore lives. At the same time, some characters find pleasure in rebelling, albeit it secretly.

17. Answer these questions: • What are some of the rules that govern Hedda in this play? Which of them is the most restrictive? Destructive? • Why is it that Hedda is so afraid of scandal? She seems to flaunt her disregard for Victorian values, at least as far as femininity goes – so why does this matter so much to her?

18. Answer these questions: • After he tells Mrs.Elvsted off, Eilert claims that he no longer has any interest for his former renegade lifestyle, as Thea has killed that part of him. Does he resent her for this, or is he grateful for the reformation?

19. Courage • Courage is tied to the idea of rebellion in HeddaGabler – rebellion against society and its constraints. For one character, this means secretly defying the limits of her sex by manipulating and coercing the men around her.

20. For another, this means leaving the good graces of his aristocratic family and engaging in a life of alcohol and debauchery. For yet a third character, it means leaving her husband behind to be with the man she loves.

21. Answer these questions: • Is Hedda’s suicide courageous or cowardly? How about burning Eilert’s manuscript? • Aunt Julie claims that she always needs someone to take care of. What does this say about her character?

22. Appearances • Beauty is power in HeddaGabler. Hedda herself is a stunning woman of aristocratic good looks, which she uses to get what she wants.

23. Because everyone wants to sleep with her, she has power over men – a rare scenario in a world defined by Victorian values (according to which women are subservient and men dominant).

24. Aesthetics are important to the play as well: the aristocratic class, more so than the middle class, is obsessed with appearances and with avoiding what it deems ugly.

25. Answer these questions: • Between George, Brack, and Eilert, it seems like all the men are drooling over Hedda. Is this primarily because of her looks, or because of her personality? • How is "beauty" defined in HeddaGabler? Everyone’s always talking about Hedda’s looks, yet Eilert declares that Mrs.Elvsted is lovely to look at. Which character better represents attractiveness?

26. Dreams, Hopes and Plans • If HeddaGabler teaches one lesson, it is that dreams cannot be relied upon. In this play, all plans for the future are predicated upon falsities, lies, misunderstandings, or miscommunication.

27. Answer these questions: • Hedda is supposed to be beautiful, but there’s also something cold and dangerous about her appearance (think about her all-black attire, her cold grey eyes, her pale complexion). Does this "dangerous" element detract from or add to her beauty? Does it depend on which character is looking at her?

28. Whether it be marriage, friendship, babies, professional pursuits, or economic risk, no thing is a sure thing. The characters continually act based on these false certainties with regard to the future, and they are repeatedly punished for doing so.

29. Answer these questions: • What "plans" do we see made in HeddaGabler, and how do they go awry? Are any plans successfully executed throughout the course of the play? • At what point has Hedda decided with certainty to commit suicide? When she takes the gun from the writing table? Before that? After?

30. Answer these questions: • George remarks that there is a danger in getting caught up in dreams; would Hedda agree? What about her constant retreat to an idealised, romantic world?

31. Drugs and Alcohol • HeddaGabler features a recovering alcoholic as one of its main characters. The play draws a connection between the idea of courage and the idea of drinking – surely a man must be courageous to turn his back on the rules of a Victorian society and engage in drunken debauchery? In this play, yes, that is the case. Alcoholism is interpreted as the mark of a free spirit, rather than a disease which needs to be treated.

32. Answer these questions: • Heddathinks that drinking again is a mark of courage on Eilert’s part. What does Eilert think? What do YOU think? • Why is it that Hedda’s taunts about masculinity aren’t enough to drive Eilert to drink, yet mistrust on Thea’s part is?

33. Your Turn Choose a topic from the list below and write approximately 600 words. • Judge Brack is a more powerful, manipulative character than Hedda. • Hedda cares more about power than she does about money. • George doesn’t really love Hedda; she’s just a trophy wife.

34. Mrs.Elvsted is the only truly courageous character in HeddaGabler. • EilertLøvborg is the only truly courageous character in HeddaGabler. • George Tesman, EilertLøvborg, and Judge Brack all find Hedda attractive for different reasons. • Eilert is happier as an alcoholic than he is as a reformed man.

35. The End