In the play Hedda Gabler, one significant event happen in Act 3 & 4 is that Tesman picked up Lövborg’s manuscript that Lövborg has accidentally dropped; however, the manuscript was burned by Hedda when Tesman was out to see Aunt Rina. As we read Act 1 &2, we know that Hedda is an aristocratic woman who is hard to please, picky, and maybe evil. She simply burns the manuscript for her jealousy of Mrs. Elvsted, “Now, I’m burning your child, Thea- You with your curly hair. Your child and Eilert Lövborg’s. Now I’m buring- buring the child” (828). We can tell that she does not want others to have happiness when she does not have. Indeed, she is jealous of hearing that Lövborg and Mrs. Elvsted are in relationship and the manuscript is their “child.” Also, she is so evil and dishonest by cheating on her husband by telling him that she burns the manuscript for his sake. She is so cruel for not to give back the manuscript when Lovborg and Mrs. Elvsted are mourning for the losing of their “child.” Moreover, Hedda is so weird for caring about where Lövborg shot himself, and she also think that Lövborg’s death has a sense of beauty for his courage. Although I cannot recall the difference of shooting on chest and temple, Hedda dies by shooting herself on temple at the end of the Act 4.

We could also conclude from the event that Hedda does not love her husband, Tesman. The love triangle also becomes more obvious. The love triangle between Hedda, Tesman, and Lövborg; the love triangle between Hedda, Tesman, and Judge. Although she has openly rejected their idea of having affair with them, she can still influence their life over her action. One example would be her destruction of Lövborg and Mrs. Elvsted’s relationship through the burning of manuscript. Indeed, this has leads her to a tragic role in the play. She is dissatisfied with her life conditions and tried to cause harm to others, but her act would also affect her own life. She does not feel secure after hearing that Lövborg’s death involves her, because she is the one who gives him the pistol. Also, she might feel guilty for she is the one who causes Lövborg’s death, “Hedda is stretched out lifeless on the sofa. Confusion and cries” (838). Hedda is regret for she has done, and she feels that she owes to Lövborg. Her “confusion and cries” reveals Hedda’s guilty and may be fear of punishment of Lövborg’s death. Therefore, she commits suicide to avoid punishment but also to show her courage.

I would describe Douglass’s tone to be bitterness when he wrote the autobiography. In most parts of his narrative, he talked about violent events such as killing and whipping slaves. Although he did shift tones when he experience cheerful events, his bitterness of being a slave and sadness of existence of slavery did not change throughout his whole narrative. Douglass claims that the battle between him and Mr. Covey “was the turning-point in {his} career as a slave,” and the battle also “rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood” (268). Douglass was proud of himself when he wrote the battle. It was his first time standing up for himself.

Moreover, Douglass’s tone has shifted several times when he poured out his “soul’s complaint” (265). He used satirical and helpless tone when he compared human beings’ difference, “you are loosed from your moorings, and are free; and I am fast in my chains, and am a slave…” (265). Then he started to be hopeful to ask God to save him but also angry about why God has let all the events happen. Next, he started to self-reflect and reassure that he will run away and be free one day. His tone was really optimistic in this case, “It may be that misery in slavery will only increase my happiness when I get free. There is a better day coming” (265). Overall, I would conclude that Douglass’s tone to be bitterness even when he wrote the narrative many years after he had freed from slavery. He would never forget that all the painful things would not happen without slavery.

On the other hand, when I mention about violent events in Douglass’s narrative, I think violence does not only apply to action but also to language. Language has a lot more power than action, for it hurts people both emotionally and psychologically. After Douglass and his friends were caught from escaping, they were put into jail. Mr. Freeland’s mother came to criticize Douglass for implicating Henry and John, “you devil! You yellow devil! It was you that put it into the heads of Henry and John to run away…” (276). Although Douglass did not mention about how he felt about Freeland mother’s words, he must felt painful in failing to bring his friends out from slavery.