Hedda Gabler Flashcards
Intro Hook
Hedda Gabler, the Generals daughter, lifts her father’s gun to her head. Her final act in the pursuit of control and freedom is a bloody one.
Thesis
The play, Hedda Gabler interrogates the rigid gender roles that confine women like Hedda to domesticity, stripping them of autonomy, while exposing class hierarchies that dictate social worth and opportunity. By using dramatic conventions, including symbolism, characterisation, and realist dialogue, the author, Ibsen critiques the oppressive forces of both patriarchy and class, revealing the destructive effects these systems have on women.
P1 E1
One early exchange with her husband Tesman, she remarks, “Now I have something to really amuse me, I can clean my pistols’
dialogue not only reveals Hedda’s discontent with her marriage but also establishes the pistols as a symbol of her desire for autonomy in a world where she is deprived of it
P1 E2
Thea also subverts the normal idea of Victorian time, as her partner, Lovborg ‘never wrote anything’ without her assistance. In this dialogue between Hedda and Thea, the realist convention of the focus on character psychology and inner motivations is used.
P1 context
two distinct spheres: the masculine public sphere, focused on business, politics, and intellect, and the feminine private sphere, confined to domestic duties
P2 E1
Hedda is unhappy within her marriage, telling Tesmond that ‘its not much fun being married to a man like you’. The belittling and apathetic tone
P2 E2
dialogue between Brack and Hedda, in which Brack uses an allegory of a train to proposition Hedda to be unfaithful to her husband. Hedda replies with ‘I will never jump out’. The polysemic interpretation
P2 cult of purity
Victorian social ideal that demanded women uphold strict standards of chastity and moral conduct, tying their value and societal acceptance to their sexual purity and fidelity
P3 E1
Hedda is acutely aware of her social standing, as seen when she condescendingly tells Thea, “People just don’t do that sort of thing.” Her belittling tone
use of the word “people”
P3 E2
The strict class divide is further emphasized when Tesman states, “To live such a completely idle life, I could never do such a thing.” His hyperbolic use of the word “never”
P3 Context
shifting societal context of Norway’s transition from a primarily agrarian society to an industrialized one
conclusion
In Hedda Gabler, Ibsen critiques the intertwining patriarchal and class structures that confine women to lives devoid of agency and freedom. Through Hedda’s tragic fate and her relationships with characters like Thea and Tesman, the play reveals the oppressive nature of societal expectations in Victorian Norway. Ibsen evokes both sympathy and discomfort in the reader, forcing them to grapple with Hedda’s destructive pursuit of agency. Her final act, rather than appearing as pure liberation, raises questions about the devastating toll of such oppressive societal constraints. Readers are left to consider the costs of living in a world that denies individuality and freedom, particularly for women of her class and era.
