Spoiler Alert!
What is Hedda Gabler like? Well, like Hedda Gabler. Ibsen makes a great decision by naming the play Hedda Gabler instead of Hedda Tesman. Hedda Gabler can never be the ideal wife or mother or take on any of the permanent and habitual routines that come with marriage. She cannot be called by any other name because she stands in a league of her own. It’s almost as if she cannot be described if only by her name. One can argue that she represents an empowered woman that went against the conventions of her time. It was not customary of a wife to down talk her husband or to play with pistols. She is not much of a hostess as she is more focused on entertaining herself by manipulating her guests. Evidence in the play can support this idea. But my argument is simply that she is insane. She is psychologically unstable because of her constant need to be in control.
Because we do not know what Hedda is thinking we must make assumptions based on her actions. The first sign of her insanity is when she shoots at Brack. She is clearly beyond her senses. Then she goes on to have a conversation with Brack and this is the first time we hear Hedda express how she really feels. She is bored with her life beside Tesman and does not love him. She married him only because she felt it was time to settle down. This is clear when Brack asks her why she accepted Tesman and she replies, “I had positively danced myself tired, my dear Judge. My day was done.” She must have lived a life filled with excitement that she would never have beside a “specialist” such as Tesman. She gave up a life where she may have been independent and free, to be a wife or property. She gave up control. In a mad effort to regain it, she manipulates and instigates trouble with people she encounters. Her actions seem random and not geared toward a specific goal other than her own amusement- to simply marvel at how much power she can have over people.
Hedda acts out of impulse. She offends Aunt Juliana, comes between Mrs. Elvstead and Lovborg, destroys Lovborg’s manuscript and encourages him to commit suicide. None of these acts were committed out of love or hate. There is no passion behind them. Hedda’s only drive is an insane and neurotic need to be in control- to use the people around her as pawns. Her actions are desperate and follow no plot or conspiracy. Her mind is a mixed up as we are when trying to understand her motives. She is compulsively obsessed with controlling what unravels before her.
In the end when she believes Lovborg committed suicide she commends him and describes his act as beautiful because he finally took control of his life. But when Brack reveals to Hedda that Lovborg was killed involuntarily and that her fate rested in Brack’s hands, she reaches the climax of her insanity. Hedda takes a gun to her temple and kills herself. This scene is very intense because some people commit suicide in an extreme effort to take control of their lives. They decide where they die, when they die and most importantly how they die. Hedda did just that. She committed the ultimate act of control and decided her own fate. She would rather die than cede control of her life to another man once again.
Hedda Gabler will never be Hedda Tesman or “mommy” or anything else that she cannot control herself. It is almost as if her marrying Tesman triggered the walls to slowly cave in on her and in desperation she did whatever was in her power at the moment to stop her life from slipping from her hands. In the most extreme act of desperation she killed herself because knowing she would be a slave to a loveless marriage and Brack was the final straw for her. Her death represents regaining full control. She freed herself without any forewarning to anyone. She died not the way Mrs. Tesman would or the way a General’s daughter would, but the only way poor Hedda Gabler knew how.
Hedda Gabler is one of the most famous dramatic characters in literature. A few days ago Barbra Streisand, one of the biggest legends in cinematography, was presented with the 40th Annual Chaplin Award. In her final speech she said, that since her childhood she always dreamed to play Hedda Gabler which unfortunately has never came true. As per my own impression, I can say that Hedda Gabler’s character is extremely engaging and even though she comes across as quite a destructive personality you still feel instantly drawn to her and cannot get enough of what she will do next. Therefore, I find Cindy’s argument of calling Hedda “being insane” quite fascinating to talk about. For the starters, I would like to disagree with this statement.
We can all agree that Hedda’s behavior is “against social norms.” However, is that enough to call her mentally ill? I would rather call her NEUROTIC. Neurosis is a type of mental disturbances that could be expressed in certain antisocial types of behavior. According to psychoanalysis, the reason for neurosis to occur is an inner conflict between Id, out subconscious desires, and Super-Ego, socially-acquired control mechanisms and moral principles. Hedda Gabler represents perfect example of neurosis, where her inner self and desires are much more forward than socially-excepted which leads her to rebel against the social structure and lifestyle of 19th century. Hedda is blunt, forward and smart. However, she still tries to follow the rules of society she lives in: she gets married when “the time comes” even though she does not want it; she is most likely pregnant, though she hates an idea of having children. This is exactly what leads to inner conflict and results in neurotic behavior.
Hedda is one of the strongest characters in the play. She plays a role of a catalyst in relationships with all other characters she interacts with. And as we all agree, she is overboard manipulative. Thus, if we admit that Hedda Gabler is mentally sick, do we ultimately admit that “sane” society is ruled by “crazy” people? Therefore, I would like to state once again, that the fact that one’s way of thinking is being too forward for the time and society he/she is living in does not make a person insane. Hedda is smart, flirtatious, fearless, manipulative, loving freedom and independence. As we agreed in class, if she lived in 21st century she would rather be called “cool,” “modern” and “sassy” rather than “crazy.” She wouldn’t be obligated to get married at certain age. She wouldn’t have to have children if she clearly realizes she is not a mother type by nature. And all of that would be quite normal and socially accepted. She would have a choice of channeling her “boredom” into sky or scuba diving and car racing, fulfilling her craving for adrenaline, rather than committing suicide out of desperation of not having any further choice of feeling as an outcast in 19th century society.
I cannot disagree with Veronika, while I do understand how Cindy builds Hedda’s character and we have seen it throughout the whole play. But “insane” may not be the right word to address Hedda’s activity and her behavior. And yes, Hedda is smart, flirtatious, fearless, manipulative, loving her freedom and independence for “social norms”. In my opinion, the most demandable question is: “Why is Hedda so mean and manipulative?” Different views can be brought up with much evidence from the text to represent the answer. But I feel like Hedda was just born in a wrong time. Because she is female and it’s the Victorian era, which was not a fun time to be a woman. It is clear that women weren’t supposed to do or say much of anything. It was basically their role to sit around all day looking pretty and complimenting their husbands. Hedda was totally opposite, that’s why I like to say Hedda is “different”, not “insane”.
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