Hedda Gabler -
Hedda Gabler, the daughter of a deceased General, marries dull George Tesman and foresees a life of middle class tedium stretching ahead when they return from their honeymoon. Increasingly, she is drawn into the clutches of her admirer, Judge Brack, who seeks to establish a ménage à trois. Then the brilliant but dissolute Eilert Lovborg, a former flame, arrives to rival her husband for an academic post.
Published: 2006-06-01 (Echo Library)
ISBN: 9781847024695
Language: English
Format: Paperback, 112 pages
Goodreads' rating: -
Reviews
I was supposed to read this book a long time ago in undergrad. I finally got around to it. I'm sure it has some deep symbolic meaning attached to it, but here are my conclusions. Hedda was a horrible person. I didn't think I was supposed to feel sympathy for her until the end, but even then.
Good god, people don't do such things! Henrik Ibsen, Hedda GablerSuch a good story:)
Ibsen captured the horror of the limited options available to women of propriety in 1890 with violence and virtuosity. It is irrelevant whether you like Hedda or not. She was not cut out to live within the straight jacket of society. None of the available options -- and Ibsen brilliantly explores them all (marriage, affair, manipulation of men) -- were a hell to her. This play shook the world of "women's" lit long before women could vote. Originally performed only for women, it surprised the theatre world when even male audiences appreciated the brilliance of her character and what she revealed about the times. The role of Hedda is so difficult to perform that she is known as the Hamlet of women's roles. To truly appreciate it, like most great plays, you need to see it performed. Run, don't walk, to the theatre when you can.