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 agree with your thoughtful blog post. In the play, Hedda shows her contempt of Lovborg and Mrs. ELvsted’s relationship by burning the precious manuscript. Her ruthless action to destroy these two’s “child” reveals her desire to be free of her own baby in her belly. I think that Hedda had not tell Tesman that she is pregnant, because she does not want to accept her responsibility as a mother. Throughout the play, Hedda is constantly trying to control and manipulate people around her. For example, she pushes Lovborg to go to the party because she wants him to drink excessive alcohol. She refuses to tell Tesman the real reason of why she burns the manuscript, because she wants to hide her past relationship with Lovborg. When Hedda encourages Lovborg to commit suicide, it suggests that her jealousy overwhelms her concern for a human being’s life. She feels she is superior and she wants to believe that she has the power to influence other people’s thoughts and actions. However, she is mistaken and upset when she learns that Lovborg’s death is not a beautiful one. At last, she chooses to end her life to avoid any legal consequences. Hedda’s suicide is her one and only way to claim her freedom back. Her selfish love for herself enables this play to become a tragedy.
I understood Hedda a bit differently. I felt that she didn’t feel guilty for giving Lovborg the gun she was upset that he did kill himself honorably. That is even more showing of her character; she doesn’t care about Lovborg as a person, only as an object that she can play with, and when that failed then she was upset because she felt powerless.
I agree with the comment above in that Hedda’s reaction to Lövborg’s death isn’t quite indicative of guilt and a fear of punishment. Prior to the event, Hedda handed him a pistol and told him to kill himself “beautifully” which insists that she wanted him to do it in a grand and courageous way. When she ultimately receives the news of Lövborg’s death, it seems as if she disregards it as she is more preoccupied with the way he killed himself, pointing out that it was ridiculous and ignoble. Hedda even goes on to say that he should’ve shot himself in the temple, but the chest is also a fairly decent area. Overall, this event explains the manipulative nature of Hedda and shows how her mind/concerns often don’t match up with those of a moral human being.
Very good interpretation of the play. However, I have to disagree when you say that Hedda regrets what she has done. I believe she was just hopeless that she lost control of the situation. I have to agree with the comment above that says that Hedda uses people as an object to play, manipulating their lives. The question is why does she do that? I believe that all her acts is a way to entertain herself. In her first conversation with Judge Brack, she reveals that everything about her life and marriage is boring. Therefore, I believe that “playing” with people’s life is a way to keep her busy and feel superior, to feel she is in control. A good example is when she suggests that she would persuade her husband to be a politician. Even after Judge Brack saying that Tesman wouldn’t do that, she says that he will because she needs to be happy. Therefore, she doesn’t care about anybody, she only wants to have things in her mind and life to fill the “hole” inside her. For this reason, one can say that she wears a “mask” to hide her real personality. Playing this part of being a “happy” wife is another way to keep her entertained.