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Hedda Gabler (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Hedda Gabler lives in an absolute prison. Her idylic residence is a prison, her marriage to a hopeful "ilustrious intellectual" is a prison, but above all, she lives imprisoned by herself, trapped by the social parameters that demand her to live the way she does. Hedda just can't figure out how to get out of that tedious state. She's intelligent, cold, severe; Gabler has an almost prodigious capacity to obtain all the information she inquires about the people around her; she manipulates them, she seems to get involved, but she simply tries to take advantage of the situation. Apparently, she doesn't feel much, but in reality, Hedda is in constant turmoil - her involvement has to do, almost exclusively, with what she just cannot allow herself to do.

For this woman, being able to have some sort of "power" over someone becomes the most exciting of all experiences, however - there's a point when she no longer will be able to manipulate the situation on her favor, she will realize how many forces have power over her; therefore, she will simply do the most congruent and coherent of things, as unexpected and shocking as the outcome of this play could possibly be.

Henrik Ibsen was truly the Father of Modern Drama! His plays are much more "in-tune" with today's life than many scholars want to believe or will admit. Hedda was a powerful woman, who on the surface appeared to be confined by a dress, imprisoned in man's house, and smothered by a male-dominated society. It would appear that Thea Elvstead was the woman with more control, but this is not true. Hedda was a calculating "bitch" who dared (quite shrewdly) to cross over her set in stone "boundaries," manipulate others, and stand back and watch others lives be destroyed as a result. But when she is backed into a corner by the "new" creative couple (George & Thea) and Judge Brack, she takes the final power into her own hand. How ironic that the power is her late father's pistol. How tragic is her death when it was the ultimate control of a destiny that she so strongly desired? Henrik, you were a true visonary!!!

Aw Contrare my friends, Hedda was not bored, but trapped. A woman before her time, as most of Ibsen's female characters, unable to yield to the societal norms of the day. A strong, well educated woman existing in a time when permission to go out and about had to be asked of the dominant male of the house. The insurgence of the Industrial Revolution was taking place, the world was changing quickly, and with it old manors and chivalry was being extincted. These mores which Hedda had been raised to cling to were falling away for the world, but not for Hedda. They ran concourse to the blood in her veins.
Despite an inner strength of character and longing to dominate, inspire, and influence, she found herself torn between the new world and the way in which she was raised. Those values and their presence is signified by the silent character of her father, in the form of a picture that is continually refferred to.
When Hedda is overshadowed by Mrs. Elvstead in Lovborg's life she scrambles to make her mark, to have some influence. The nature of that inspiration is of no interest to her. As a madman who longs for fame and finds it in a violent act, Hedda does what she does for the power/influence in it, but not out of malice. Though we, the audience, may judge what her actions may have lead to, this is a moot avenue of perspective. It is "why" she does what she does that makes her such an intriguing character.

A great audio play which pulls the listener in and never lets go. As the story progresses the tension mounts and mounts until you can't take the suspense no longer. Juliet Stevenson does a superb job in portraying the manipulative but reckless Hedda and the rest of the cast are top notch. This is a brilliant presentation of ibsen's play showing the foibles of life and the dangers of desire. A wonderful audio experience to be listened to over and over again. Highly recommended. This audio book contains two CDs and is a full cast presentation of Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler.

Many people view Hedda as a heroine who was trapped in a world that was not comparable to her train of thought;however I view her as a malicious implacable twisted woman. Nothing in which she did suprised me at all. I felt no remorse in her passing but rather a deliberate sigh of relief. The only thing she ever had to offer was sarcastic insults and low blows to one's intelligence. At the age of 29 Hedda possed the strife and iniquity of a woman twice her age.

Hedda lives in a mans world having been raised by her father who was militant. She strives not to let being a woman hinder her from lifes adventures, so she goes things that most men do. She has a nick for blowing things up and anything that gets in her hands is destroyed. She made all women in her presence succomb to her aggressivenss, all men fell prey to her wit and beauty.

Hedda married Tesman to appear as if she was doing something with her life. He may have been inherently smart but he was naive to the ways of Hedda. Lovburg was a smart man and he could carry on a descent conversation with Hedda but he was pathetic in a sense. It seemed as if he lead a double life and I viewd him as being a drifter. The only person who was on her level of equal intelligence truly was Judge Brack. He understood her and read her like a book; they were literally the same person. He did find her escapades to be quite amusing but at the same time he kind of held a grudge towards her amybe from some past rendezvous.In the end his name Judge took total effect. He held Hedda's fate in his hand and she was not about to let him win that easily. Hedda didn't prove to bite as loud as her bark because she finished herself off when she lost power and control of a situation in which she started.

From the view of a Theater major, this translation and adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' allows an audience (and a reader, for that matter) to follow all the intricate little jokes and personality quirks. Unlike other translations, the way each character speaks is distinct from all the others. The words aren't the only thing translated from the Norwegian; the nuances and attitudes are as well. George Tesman is amusingly obtuse, and his Auntie Julia isn't simply the sweet old lady she appears to be. Judge Brack and Hedda can share some wonderful inside jokes without the rest of the characters noticing. Eilert Lovborg isn't just bipolar in his actions but also in his words. And unlike many other translations, it is actually possible to be sympathetic to Hedda's situation and not simply loath her for her attitude. One of Ibsen's greatest talents is his way with words: the characters are forever saying one thing and meaning something entirely different. As 'Hedda Gabler' is a play, it is not meant to be simply read; it is meant to be seen, and Jon Robin Baitz certainly makes it easier for the actors to get across the message Ibsen was trying to send. And studying the play intensively during rehearsals and production of 'Hedda Gabler' really make it easier to appreciate exactly how much is going on. It takes much more than just a reading to understand 'Hedda': at its finest, it takes a really stellar cast, especially in the title role, to pull it off.

A well written play which gives you a sense how how woman felt during the times of patriarchy. Hedda is an extrodinary character who is very complex but at the same time she is fairly simple to understand. Her evil doings are somewhat erased from our minds as we justify them, we feel pity towards Hedda because of the pityful life she is trapped in, the distorted views on life that Hedda poseses come to a climax toward the end and we understand a bit more about her character, however,just as we begin to understand her actions and feel pity towards her instead of hate we sadly discover her death at the end. A thoroughly interesting yet somewhat confusing? play!

hedda is a highly electrifying woman stuck in a loveless alliance with a bumbling fool. this steely woman lives by her poetic fantasies-- 'beauty, courage n freedom' thru lovborg (a brill man). lovborg is the ex-lover on which she lives vicariously as they share a 'bond of our common hunger for life'. hedda is driven to desperation by the masculine society she is born into. she was brought up by a militant father.. hence her fascination with pistols n things political n rejection of pregnancy. being the aristocrat she is, hedda loathes the bourgeoise n want for money.

this unwoman woman is a monster living in 'fear of scandal'. part of her time is engaged in power plays with 'fair' thea n brack, the connoisseur of life. it is amazing to see hedda switch mode frm 'clenched fists' 2 being 'calm n controlled'. as the play progresses, her aim of creating a dionsysian being in lovborg ceases dramatically. it affects her so profoundly she finds no meaning in life. her 'pretty illusion' of seeing lovborg with 'vineleaves in his hair' is dead. similarly, lesser beings were invading her pte sanctuary she holds so sacred ('inner rm').. n tt leads to her timely yet shocking death.

who is the tragic hero of the play? hedda or lovborg? hedda is not as strong n dynamic as we liken her to be. she ends in a brittle yet poignant note. what is so striking is the simplicity in which ibsen used to portray his ideas. the audience is often left dumb-founded by the disturbing n perverse themes-- death n vicarious living. also, his use of greek mythology (apollo, dionysus, diana) is very interesting as it delves deeper into the chac.

Hedda Gabler. Created by Ibsen at the turn of the last century, this character can still find its place comfortably amongst contemporary literature. Hedda's sweeping dark and private personality, from her purposely bitter remarks to her burning up a saved manuscript, lets the reader in on some insight as to the constant turning and scheming that goes on in her mind. Her world is one as ironic as it is constricted and in her own ways and through her own methods, can she try to make the most of what she determines life should be.

Considered the greatest playwright since Shakespeare by many, Henrik Ibsen is the acknowledged father of modern drama. He made the important shift from verse to prose and drastically altered Victorian drama's focus from light, superficial sentiment to serious, often tragic examinations of contemporary social issues. Perhaps his most famous play after A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler is an important part of his legacy. It is not his best work but would be nearly any other playwright's peak and differs significantly from most of his canon in not being a "problem play." Ibsen's greatness makes even his most era-specific works universal, but this may be his best and most successful attempt to tackle generally universal themes like alienation, individuality, inequality, etc. It may best be seen as a sort of corollary to A Doll's House, which came out more than a decade prior. Like that pioneering work, it has a strong female lead - the title character - who is, if anything, even more celebrated as a strong female part. Hedda is widely considered the ultimate female dramatic role, the female Hamlet, and it is easy to see why. She is not just the main character, present nearly throughout with almost everything contingent on her, but a brilliantly and complexly ambiguous portrait still hotly debated over a century later. Many acclaimed actors have played her, and there are almost as many theories as to what she represents and what drives her behavior. Is she an archetype of evil, female Iago rather than female Hamlet? A portrait of femininity let loose and gone wrong? Victim of circumstance? Simply insane? Above all, are we supposed to react sympathetically or with disgusted condemnation?

Such questions are not really meant to be answered. As with most of Ibsen, though strong didactic elements are present, the presentation, especially the ending, is so wide open that we are not force-fed a Moral or Message but, as in his disciples Shaw and Chekhov, left to decide for ourselves. Ibsen shines a bright light on relevant issues but refuses to give easy answers that he is intelligent and perceptive enough to know do not exist. This is a true artist's duty, and few modern writers have done it better. To be sure, Hedda can be played many different ways, which is likely, along with the challenge itself, why so many relish the role. She is certainly cruel, selfish, vain, and sadistic, and it is one of the play's most remarkable features that Ibsen presents her neutrally. Almost any other writer would have viciously condemned her or put her on a perverse pedestal; his refusal was daring and provocative. It is certainly easy to condemn individual actions, or even dismiss her outright, but the essential mystery of her motive(s) makes sweeping generalizations difficult. Judgment rests primarily on the testy question of how much responsibility she has for her actions in contrast to her circumstances. Like Nora in A Doll's House, she is a beautiful, talented woman cramped by social conventions that, among many other things, confine her to patriarchy. She grew up in the long shadow of a prestigious general and unsurprisingly longed to be her own person. As society made it nearly impossible to do this directly, she tried living vicariously through others, primarily Eilert Lovborg, a character nearly as interesting as her. Neither this nor further independent living attempts worked, and she unenthusiastically marries a cold scholarly fish offering conventional trappings but none of the adventure or excitement she craves. (It is also strongly hinted that she is pregnant, which may be a partial - perhaps even the only - reason.) He is almost the worst possible mate for her, but she sees little other choice while also refusing to accept her lot. Lovborg's return, coupled with the reemergence of an old female acquaintance who is now his associate and thus apparently stirs Hedda's jealousy, leads her to meddle in others' affairs with ever-increasing unscrupulousness leading to tragic consequences for all - not least herself. Unwittingly caught in her own trap and refusing to become the plaything of the lustful Judge Brack, whose knowledge of her shenanigans gives him great leverage, she kills herself with pistols inherited from her father.

How are we supposed to feel? The irony is certainly vicious; far from being even vicariously independent, she cannot even put an end to the mess she unwittingly made except through an inherited patriarchal symbol. The title underscores this, using her maiden rather than married name. It is a crushing blow to her pretensions and a cruel highlighting of her "masculine" ambitions. She never moved beyond her father and failed to overcome other men in her midst despite being smarter - or at least more manipulative - than all but Brack and holding great charm over them. Different readers will have vastly different views about how much, if at all, any of this excuses her, but her character is above all simply fascinating. Even those who think her purely evil, or at least irredeemable, cannot deny this; like Shakespeare's Richard III, the very fact of her malice being so brazen makes her perversely attractive. She will certainly continue to be debated - and variously appreciated - for many years.

My take is that she is Ibsen's picture of the terrible consequences that could result if what Victorians called "The Woman Question" was not resolved. Nothing good can come of intelligent, adventurous women left alone to rot amid patriarchy. Most such women will probably live miserably and die as if they never lived without their plight affecting anyone else - likely without anyone else even knowing. However, the extreme boredom to which they will almost inevitably descend, along with the fiercely resented and artificial external pressures constantly exerted on them, may lead some to Hedda's desperately destructive ways. It could be "merely" self-destructive or, as in her case, extend well beyond them. Some may call such reactions inexcusable, but they are, after all, no worse - or even different - from what many men have historically done in similar situations. If women are inherently weaker, as nearly all Victorians believed, the consequences may well be even worse. The problem was ticking like a time bomb at the heart of Western Society, and Ibsen confronted it with more perception, realism, and sensitivity than nearly anyone else - writer or politician/reformer, man or woman.

There is of course more to the play, or it would be of only historical interest. It is in fact perhaps more popular than ever, "revived" every few years to great popularity and acclaim in an ever-widening interpretation variety. This is in large part because, independent of aforementioned issues, Hedda's core dilemma of alienation and ennui essentially dramatizes modern society's central problem. The play is sometimes seen as prefiguring both Freud and existentialism - plausible claims and compelling evidence of ever-intriguing variety. Central as Hedda is, other characters are not without interest, especially Lovborg. More importantly, as in all major Ibsen works, the sense of pacing and the tightly controlled release of suspense is masterful. He has an incredible quality that I have seen in no other playwright of making every scene, nearly every line, seem to positively burst with profound significance, importance, and suspense. Even the most seemingly asinine are highly charged. This is more palpable here than in any of his other plays and literally explodes at the end after building up to several near-unbearable climaxes. The psychological tension builds to nearly uncontrollable peaks, and physical actions sometime rises in response. Those who find Hedda Gabler boring have sadly been desensitized by the mindless violence and sex of later so-called art and entertainment. The perceptive will find far more to challenge them here than in nearly any of the gratuitously superficial spiel Hollywood puts out. Ibsen's place in world literature is rightly very high, but as all this suggests, he was so far ahead of his time in every respect that we have perhaps even now not truly begun to fully appreciate him. He is more than a master; he is a prophet. Hedda Gabler is one of his more disturbing glimpses into the repressed darkness at modern society's center. He helps by shedding a little light, but we must find the way through it ourselves - or we may end up like Hedda or her victims.