Loevberg = Bacchus

Within the play Hedda keeps questioning whether Eilert Loevberg has “vine-leaves in his hair.” In a quest to understand Hedda’s implications I researched into what “vine-leaves in his hair” could symbolize. Upon doing so, I have gathered the following information.

Bacchus is the greek god of wine and fertility. He can be characterized as the following:

1. Being nice and gentle to those who honored him

2. Bringing destrcution to those who “spurned him or the orgiastic rituals of his cult.”

3. Associated with orgies and unrestrained behavior.

According to one myth, Bacchus dies  in the winter and is reborn in the spring.

Every time Hedda makes the statement “vine-leaves in his hair,” she is making a connection between Loevberg and Bacchus. Similar to the Greek God of Wine, he is a drinker and conducts in sexual activity regardless of the society’s norms. This is quite apparent when both Tesman and Brack tell the accounts of the party to Hedda: Tesman refers to it as an “orgy” and Brack decribing it as a “free-for-all in which both sexes participated.”

Hedda is attracted to Eilert’s traits of freedom, rebelliousness, and excessive drinking. This sense of freedom and courage he that he possesses is what Hedda wants for herself. However, she is unable to attain that for she is afraid of “scandals.” Being that she is of a high aristocratic social class and a woman, it is unacceptable for her to conduct in such behavior. However, she indirectly partakes in such behavior when she is able to get out information from Eilert about his personal sexual history. When Eilert commits suicide and dies (connection to when Bacchus dies in winter) it is an end to freedom and courage. But, he is rebon when Tesman and Mrs. Elvstead try to piece together the “lost manuscript” of Eilert.

Research From:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/dionysus.html