In the play Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, the main protagonist Hedda Tesman posses the trait of manipulation. This gives her a desire to control and have power over people. Hedda does not like the idea of people trying to control her and it is evident from the moment she steps into the room, where everything has to be perfect for her. Through out the play there is sense that she does not really see people for people. It almost seems like the characters in the play are pawns for her life. She is a great manipulator and is able to make people think she is friends with them and make them comfortable enough that they will give her all the information she desires. This is evident in many instances such as in act one when she talks to Mrs. Elevsted and was able to get her secrets about her life. While in act two, Eliert Lovborg says “Ah, Hedda — what kind of power was in you that drew these confessions out of me?” (812). He is one of Hedda’s former lovers who was almost shot by her. He does not even understand how he fell under this spell of hers, but she is a powerful woman who has everyone wrapped around her finger. It seems that when she gets bored with her life she uses her “pawns” to entertain her. This is where her manipulator skills come in handy. Just like this quote mentions that she has this “power” over people and she likes it. What ever she wants from people, she will make sure she gets it out of them. This is just one of the moments that her manipulator trait comes to light. From getting someone’s secrets to hiding her emotions towards someone. She is in control of the game and it is always the one that manipulates the game knows how its going to play out and how it will end.
Assignment 3
September 25, 2015 Written by s.kazinets | 3 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
3 responses so far ↓
j.kohan // Sep 25th 2015 at 4:52 pm
First of all, great post and I certainly agree with the points you made here, specifically that Hedda is manipulative. You mentioned that when she gets bored with her life she uses her “pawns” as entertainment, and yes, I believe that a lot of the things she does is truly out of boredom. We see that most characters are assigned to some sort of role in their life, Judge Brack being a judge, Lovborg being a tutor, and George being an academic. Hedda is never truly tied to a role of any kind and the fact that she seems a bit unsatisfied with her life may be a contributing factor to why she finds other ways to attain pleasure. Great observations, well written.
m.lee // Sep 25th 2015 at 9:51 pm
I completely agree with you that Hedda is a manipulative person and that she does manipulate people for fun when she’s bored. She manipulated Ejlert into consuming alcohol after he abstained from it for years and she got to watch Ejlert ask Mrs. Elvsted a ridiculous question for which he had to apologize for later on. Hedda uses her wit to get people to do things that is just entertaining for her to watch. I think it speaks to her mental state of mind where she doesn’t seem to care what happens to the people she is manipulating as long as she is left standing and unharmed.
JMERLE // Sep 26th 2015 at 3:59 pm
Simona,
You choose an important character trait, great! Your paragraph (and writing as a whole) will be more effective, however, if you would stay with one specific quotation/incident (either Thea or Eilert, but not both in a single paragraph). That way, your writing will become more focused and will also encourage a more profound development of the topic.
Grade: 9/10