In Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the author addresses issues in the Victorian era through several literary techniques, including symbolism. Ibsen’s protagonist, Hedda, expresses an obsession with Thea Elvsted’s hair, which is “remarkably light, almost a white gold and exceptionally rich and full” (Ibsen 862). Hedda’s hatred for Thea’s favorable hair is an example of the protagonist’s rejection of feminine qualities. Thea’s hair symbolizes the strength of femininity, which Hedda’s masculinity seeks to destroy. Ibsen uses the adjective “full” to describe Thea’s outstandingly thick hair. Thea is also full of other traits that would be favorable during the 1800s, which would include her ability to live life for men. Victorian era gender roles …show more content…
By using the adjective “light” to describe Thea’s hair, she can be compared to the sun. The sun has the ability to provide life and encourage growth. Thea acts as a major inspiration to Lovborg in the composition of his most notable book. She is able to provide him with the necessary creativity to write, just as the sun would supply the essential nutrients for a flower to grow. Although Lovborg receives the credit for the genius of his book, without Thea, it would have been impossible for him to create. This is comparable to how humans appreciate the beauty of a flower, with little recognition that it is the sun that enables growth. In the 1800s, marriages worked similarly. While men did obtain the income to support his wife, without her help raising the children and taking care of housework it is likely that the husband would not have been able to accomplish as much. Even though women were seen as the weaker sex, there was extraordinary power in their work. By relating Thea’s hair to the sun, her power as a woman to enable others to grow and succeed is acknowledged. Throughout the story, Hedda’s desire to burn Thea’s hair is referred to several times. Hedda fails to realize the power in femininity and feels that she must gain her purpose in life through manipulation and hatred. This results in Hedda’s death because she is unable to conform to traditional gender roles. Thea’s simple femininity which is symbolized by her hair illustrates the strength that women have through their ability to commit and care for others, which are admired, necessary traits in society that are often oppressed by
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
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 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.
This source provided the unique perspective of what was thought to be the perfect household, with a man who worked and a wife who cooked and cleaned. However, it also showed how a woman could also do what a man can do, and in some cases they could do it even better. This work is appropriate to use in this essay because it shows how men talked down to their wives as if they were children. This work shows the gradual progression of woman equality and how a woman is able to make her own decisions without her husband’s input.
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.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many literal and figurative items to illustrate the significance of various characters or themes. Coupled with the tangible evidence given, the reader can make many miscellaneous assumptions of the importance of these items to directly and indirectly contribute to the issues of the novel. One cryptic item that symbolizes more than it seems to is the appearance of one of the main characters, Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne's appearance and hair signify the levels of will and determination she possesses at the moment.
In Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, Nora Helmer portrays the Victorian English archetype of the “angel in the house”, otherwise known as the “doll” metaphor. In the Victorian age, the social construction of gender roles was much more traditional than contemporary gender roles; women had a clear role in society of which they could not escape. A major focus of social construction is to uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the construction of their perceived social reality. As society is revolutionized, people individualize, freeing themselves from the constraints imposed by traditional societies. Nora Helmer represents an antecedaneous model of a feministic viewpoint in an oppressed position. Trapped in her role of the “doll”, Nora struggles to break free, her actions precipitated by her husband, Torvald’s, actions. Weintraub, in his ““Doll’s House” Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction” critical essay, depicts Shaw’s work and proposes the idea that the male protagonist has an immense impact on the female protagonist’s automorphism as “the doll” and the decisions she makes. In Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” Nora’s characterization and ultimate decision to leave can be seen as a struggle against the combination of Torvald and Society’s pressure to conform.
This passage from the denouement Henrik Ibsen’s play, Hedda Gabler, before Hedda’s suicide, is an illustration of the vulnerability and defeat of the impetuous and manipulative titular character. Ibsen develops Hedda’s character by uncovering details about the conflicts between Hedda and the other characters, Judge Brack, Mrs Elvsted, and George Tesman which highlight Hedda’s transformation from an individualistic to despairing individual, conveying the theme of freedom and repression in 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. "
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 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.
Life is unpredictable and we are the one who make it. It is up to us if we want to have a good or bad life or just chose to end it. Hedda Gabler is a naturalism type of dramatic writing, written by Henrik Ibsen who narrates Hedda Gabler as a scandalous, coward, egotistical and a deceiving character who wants to have freedom to do something and achieve it. However, all the things that she wants to happened always failed. Starting from having an unwanted marriage with George out of sympathy;
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...
The nineteenth century was truly a different time for women and what their assumed roles in life would be. Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” is an examination into those assumed roles and a challenge to them. It was a time of obedience and inequality and in the first act each character is shown to portray these qualities. However, the characters in this play have multiple layers that get peeled back as the story progresses. As each new layer is revealed the audience is shown that even with the nineteenth century ideals, the true nature of each character is not quite what they appeared to be initially.