The unmistakable dominance of men during the nineteenth century is an influential factor in the establishment of the central theme of Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler. Due to Hedda’s lack of independence, she develops a strong desire for control. The direct relationship between Hedda’s marriage with George and her sly, manipulative characteristics is manifested by Ibsen during the work. Ibsen also exposes weakness in Mrs. Elvsted through her dependability on various male characters for fulfillment in life. How do expectations of gender roles in the nineteenth century affect plot scheme and develop a theme of male dominance in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler? Deeper insight to this connection may be formed from the analysis of various characters’ actions throughout the work.
Growing up in a prominent home did no favor for the miserable Hedda Gabler. Although George Tesman proves to be easily manipulated into providing Hedda with anything she asks for, she is not satisfied with her blasé way of life. The past experiences of living in her affluent father’s household bring about Hedda’s ungratefulness. Miss Tesman invites the maid to “think of the sort of life she was accustomed to in her father's time”, making Hedda’s family background appear to be impressive (Ibsen 2). Ibsen’s description of the hanging picture over the couch of the general, Hedda’s father, ensures the audience of the high social status her family held. To ensure this type of prosperity during adulthood, she selects George as a husband. Marriages based on wealth, instead of love, were very common during this time period, and involved those who wished to maintain their social ranking. Because affection and respect are not characteristics present in Hedda and George’s m...
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...rally common marriage characteristics in George and Hedda’s relationship, Ibsen constructs the character of Hedda. Development of the plot progresses with his creation of a conversational style of writing and a third person point of view. Further actions that deepen the intense plot scheme are taken by characters in response to Ibsen’s choice of language in Mrs. Elvsted’s discussions with other characters. Finally, Hedda’s collapse signifies the immense importance placed on male dominance and clearly shows the reader the negative impact it makes on the main female character. With significant meaning placed on power, Ibsen establishes a plot that not only develops each character, but also dictates the effects their actions have on the series of dramatic events in the plot.
Works Cited
Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1990. Print.
Women in most cultures have been designated as second to men and in some instances, considered below male children as well. With the passage of time women gained respect and the right for equality. Although gender discrimination remains, a lot of progress has been achieved. Literature is a one of the facets of the human race that reflects the culture change of people. William Shakespeare’s King Lear portrays the patriarchal system of the Renaissance era, which leaves women completely dependent on the male head of household. In Henrik Ibsen’s Doll House, set in the modern era, there is still a patriarchal system but women have just a little more freedom. The article, The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen by Joan Templeton, analyzes the gender subordination in A Doll House. Comparing and contrasting the themes of the two plays followed by consideration of the article’s research on the theme in A Doll House, assists in developing an understanding of the gradual progression of women’s freedom to be their “true selves” through equality with men. The “true self” is a person's character that is masked by a false portrayal designed to appeal to others.
Hedda grew up with a general as a father, therefore living as she pleased in her higher statured aristocratic ways. She had freedom and a voice, which she never thought would be taken away. However her age began to show and she soon had to choose between a lonely life, or to comply with society’s rules. Hedda is meant to be married, have children and please her husband, but for Hedda this is not what life was about.
Hester’s youth, although poor, was filled with heartening memories of her parents and their humble abode. Her new life marked with ignominy was a drastic change from what sh...
Many people admire Ibsen for portraying Hedda and Nora as women who are able to take action and escape the conventional roles expected of them. Ibsen uses the role of motherhood to display battles women must fight involving their desires to be independent individuals and the directions that society expects their lives to go in.... ... middle of paper ... ... Finney, Gail.
A man, intoxicated and impoverished, lay on the dirty streets of patriarchal Norway, and as the jeering citizens sauntered by, they could have never guessed that this man, Henrik Ibsen, would be the Prometheus of women’s rights and the creator of the modern play. Having been born in 1828, Ibsen lived through various examples of the subjection of women within the law, such as Great Britain allowing men to lock up and beat their wives “in moderation” (Bray 33). Therefore, Ibsen was known for his realistic style of writing within both poetry and plays, which usually dealt with everyday situations and people (31). Focusing on the rights of women, Ibsen’s trademark was “...looking at these problems without the distortions of romanticism” and often receiving harsh criticism for doing so (31). In an attempt to support his family, Ibsen became a pharmaceutical apprentice, but after three years he abandoned this profession and began writing poetry. After an apprenticeship in the theater, he began writing his own plays, including a drama in verse, Peer Gynt (31). While working and writing in Norway, Ibsen and several social critics observed “...the penalty society pays when only half of its members participate fully as citizens”, deciding to flee Norway in hopes of finding a more accepting social environment (33). Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, his most famous work about women suffering through the oppressive patriarchal society, while living primarily in Germany and Italy where he “...was exposed to these social norms and tensions to a much greater extent than he would have been had he remained solely in Norway” (32). While Sweden, Norway, and Denmark began to grant legal majority to women, Ibsen understood the legal improvements f...
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.
Hedda married Tesman, an academic student who supposed to have a potential success, not because she loves him, but just because as she said “It was a great deal more than any of my other admirers were offering”. In this quote she is showing her real feelings meaning that she never loves him and she just married him because he was the best option among the
Social status, gender, and misguided intentions render Hedda Gabler and Emma Bovary alienated individuals. One question remains, who deserves the title tragic hero or villain? Hedda commits suicide to avoid being caged and blackmailed by Judge Brack, while Emma commits suicide to avoid the public shame that will inevitably come from soiling her husband’s name and acquiring unimaginable debt. Hedda refuses to commit adultery because she “has made her bed, and now she must lie in it” she knows that every action or fib has its consequences. Emma on the other hand commits adultery with two different men, trying to find her hopes and dreams. Both had a choice when choosing whom they wanted to marry. Hedda Gabler wins, because although she is rude, manipulative, and vindictive; she accepts the consequences of her actions unlike Emma.
Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, was a courageous and honorable person; even though, what she had been known for wasn’t such an admirable deed. Hester Prynne was a very strong person in one’s eyes, because even though she had been publically humiliated in front of all of Boston, she still remained confident in herself and her daughter. She was ordered to wear a scarlet colored piece of fabric, with the letter “A” embroidered in gold on it, on her bosom at all times to show that she had committed adultery. She was mocked all the time and constantly looked down upon in society, because of her sin; but instead of running away from her problems, she st...
In this passage, Ibsen illustrates Hedda’s transformation from an apparently dominant character to a vulnerable character bound by societal conventions. Hedda highly values individual freedom, yet Ibsen reinforces in this passage that she is ultimately controlled by her role as a wife in her marriage and her role as a woman in her relationship with Judge Brack. Ibsen’s portrayal of the desperation of Hedda’s situation foreshadows her suicide, an action that is forced upon her yet paradoxically is her only means of freedom from a repressive society.
Introduced as the novel’s protagonist, Hester Prynne is faced with the dilemma of finding and expressing her true identity in the face of a strict Puritan society.
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
In using the name Hedda Gabler, despite her marriage to George Tesman, Ibsen has conveyed to the reader the importance of social class. Hedda prefers to identify herself as the daughter of General Gabler, not the wife of George Tesman. Throughout the play she rejects Tesman and his middle class lifestyles, clinging to the honorable past with which her father provided her. This identity as the daughter of the noble General Gabler is strongly implied in the title, Hedda Gabler. In considering the many implications of the social issues as explained above, it can not be denied that the very theme of Hedda Gabler centers on social issues. "
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.
Later she insults “Aunt Juliana 's new hat, pretending to mistake it for the servant’s” (Act II, 184-85). Hedda seems to despise everything about George Tesman and his middle class existence. She demands much more class than he has been able to provide her, for she was the beautiful, charming daughter of General Gabler and deserved nothing but the finest. As the character of Hedda Gabler develops, the reader learns that she has only married George Tesman because her father 's passing away left her no significant financial resources, nothing but a respectable heritage. She tells Brack of her decision to marry Tesman: "I really had danced myself out. My day was done. ... And George Tesman – the very model of rectitude. ... There 's a good possibility he might make something of himself, after all. ...It was more than my other admirers were prepared to do for me, my dear Judge." (Act II, 88-105). Hedda needed someone to support her financially, and George Tesman was the only decent man to propose to her. She was forced to cross beneath her social class and marry this commoner in the hopes that he would make a name