Hedda Gabler Exam Flashcards
Pistol Theme?
- carry as Hedda’s legacy from General Gabler
- is to be regarded rather as her father’s daughter than as her husband’s wife
- the pistols are linked with certain values in her background which Hedda cherishes. Complete definition of these values is difficult without a more thorough knowledge of Ibsen’s conception of a Norwegian general than the play or contemporary comment on it allows.
- nineteenth century audiences recognized that Hedda’s pretensions to dignity and grandeur as a general’s daughter were falsely based, “that a Norwegian general is a cavalry officer, who as a rule, has never smelt powder, and whose pistols are innocent of bloodshed.” Such a realization, however, by no means nullifies the theoretical attributes and privileges of generalship to which Hedda aspires. Possibly Ibsen intended us to understand that Hedda is a member of a second generation of “ham actors” who betray their proud tradition by their melodramatic posturings.
Individual vs Group?
Hedda is preoccupied with self-determination - the idea that she can dictate the course of her own life, no matter how much societal pressures may try to move her along a different course. And yet, as the play moves on, we see just how much a victim Hedda is of the “group”: she married a man she didn’t love simply because her “time ran out”; will have children simply because she is supposed to; and ultimately destroys herself because she fears being thrust into the spotlight of a public scandal. What Hedda discovers is that an individual has no power in the face of a group unless they can manipulate that group - something that she continually fails to do.
Names in Hedda Gabler?
- As evidenced by the title, names are a big deal in Hedda Gabler . They reflect the tension between formality and intimacy or between single and married life. Here are some examples. Eilert calls Hedda “Hedda Gabler” because he still imagines her as the girl he once knew, not the married woman she is now.
- Hedda won’t call Aunt Julie by her first name because she feels it’s too informal and wants to keep her distance. On the other hand, Julie calls Hedda by her first name – until the hat incident goes down and she gets peeved.
- At the same time, Hedda won’t let him call her by her first name because it’s not proper. When she wants to manipulate Mrs. Elvsted into thinking they are good friends, Hedda insists that they use each other’s first names. At the beginning of the play, Julie makes a big deal out of Berta referring to George as Dr. Tesman now, instead of Mr. Tesman.
- George clearly feels much closer to his wife than she feels to him. Hedda prefers to keep her formal, aristocratic distance.
Fire ?
All the hints of fire in the first three acts lead up to the climax at the end of Act III, when Hedda burns Eilert’s manuscript and rants about “burning” Thea’s child
- Look at all the times she sits by the stove: in Act I, she retreats to the stove when George wants her to look at his smelly old slippers; again when she converses with Thea; again when bantering with Brack; once more in Act IV shortly before she commits suicide. She’s all about her pistols, of course, which FIRE a bullet.
- When she imagines Eilert reading poetry, she visualizes him “all fiery” with vine leaves in his hair. Even George calls her feelings for him “a burning love” when he discovers she’s destroyed the manuscript.
- We start to get a picture of burning discontent inside Hedda, despite her cool exterior. Clearly, she’s harboring some intense passion that rises to the surface every now and then. Notice that she feeds the fire after the night of Brack’s stag party – right before the scene in which she convinces Eilert to kill himself. Hedda’s games and intrigues are essentially feeding the fire she feels inside – the burning desire to escape the confines of her very stifled life.
Hedda and Thea
