"HEDDA GABLER" (HENRIK IBSEN).   Term Paper ID:21180 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analyzes play as realistic social drama from feminist perspective. Plot, characters, themes, symbolism, deconstructionist critique, women's roles, gender equality.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Analyzes play as realistic social drama from feminist perspective. Plot, characters, themes, symbolism, deconstructionist critique, women's roles, gender equality. Paper Introduction: Henrik Ibsen, creator of the "realistic" school of drama that has dominated the 20th Century theater agenda, has travelled a curious path of critical review. Reviled at first writing of his dramas in the popular press and satirical cartoons as the sour old man of scandal and shame (Beyer 192-195), he was then canonized for the "social significance" of his realistic dramas by the "Ibsenites" - not the least being George Bernard Shaw, whose The Quintessence of Ibsenism has seemingly been the most-often heard First and Last Word on the subject of what Ibsen's plays are supposed to mean (Williams 25-26). "Fools belabored him and fools defended him; he was near to being suffocated and done for in the fog of balderdash," wrote the acerbic critic H. L. Mencken fifty some-odd years ago (vii) - and fifty some-odd years after the majority of Ibsen's realistic plays were written Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. But beautifully nevertheless! It is an offence against Jorgen Tesman, whom thou[3] love. What an idea! If, today, Hedda's delusions seem abit naively simple and antiquated, Radway's study (5-11) cites statisticalevidence that since the 197 s romance literature aimed at women hassteadily increased in popularity and crosses all economic and educationallines. Hedda's - or, recognizing the patriarchal oppression of the symbol -the General's pistols are an open recognition that one such imbedded "code"is at play in her life. Ironically,a romantic feminist critique of Hedda Gabler sends the observer full circleback to deconstructionism and the "Wickedary" definitions of Daly andCaputi cited earlier: these patriarchal legacies are the original "sins ofthe father." In the end, approached from a feminist perspective, Ibsen wasanticipating the evolution of feminism in Hedda Gabler precisely because hechose to avoid specific social issues contemporary to his times. Women, the Family, and Freedom: The Debate in Documents, volume II, 188 -195 . (turning his head) I trust you to keep Hedda company, my dear Brack. [2]Lovborg uses the "familiar" word "du." Later, after Hedda'sadmonition, he will switch to "de," or "thou," the formal form of addressbetween men and women in their society (Ibsen 522n). Works CitedBell, Susan G., & Offen, Karen M. New York: The Modern Library, n.d.: 5 1-6 4.Kaminer, Wendy. She lies on a sofa - this isrevealed after the fact - and uses the General's remaining pistol to shootherself cleanly, "beautifully" though the temple. As Janice Radway points out in her study of Reading the Romance:Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature, such expressions are "self-deceptive perceptions of women who either do not know what [they] reallysay or refuse to admit the [patriarchal] meaning to their consciousness(5)." Hedda, always the daughter of General Gabler, is trapped in a male-created, patriarchal romantic mythos. She is worried, though, that Lovborgwill return to his old, dissolute ways. LOVBORG: None. Reviled at first writing of his dramas[1] in the popularpress and satirical cartoons as the sour old man of scandal and shame(Beyer 192-195), he was then canonized for the "social significance" of hisrealistic dramas by the "Ibsenites" - not the least being George BernardShaw, whose The Quintessence of Ibsenism has seemingly been the most-oftenheard First and Last Word on the subject of what Ibsen's plays are supposedto mean (Williams 25-26). Yes, even though Ibsen wrote Hedda Gabler without makingreference to the young Viennese psychoanalyst's emerging studies, by havingHedda constantly center the key moments of action in her life around herfather's pistols (as opposed to her perception of inertia in daily life),the Norwegian playwright gave his female lead one of the most obviousphallic symbols possible. HEDDA: (glances at him and smiles)[4] Love? New York: Taplinger, 1978.Daly, Mary, & Caputi, Jane. Hedda Gabler makes no suggestions for asolution. She fits no mold allowing easydefinition of character. Mencken fifty some-odd years ago (vii) - and fiftysome-odd years after the majority of Ibsen's realistic plays were written -who went on to dismiss Ibsen's social significance in favor of praising himas "a play-maker of astounding skill ... TESMAN: Yes, do you know, Hedda - I really think I begin to feel something of the sort. Ibsen: The Man & His Work. But won't you go and sit with Brack again? Language is everything; the world itself is "text."Language directs humanity and creates human reality. HEDDA: Oh, that will come, too - in time. Met by Tesman's AUNT JULIANA, a self-sacrificingwoman who recognizes immediately (but does not reveal to Tesman) that thenew bride is in the first months of pregnancy, Hedda confesses to Brackthat she is dying of boredom from the entire situation of her marriage (notrevealing the pregnancy to him, either). The play begins as Hedda and Tesman return from a six-monthhoneymoon/research trip throughout Europe. In Hedda Gabler, written in 189 , Ibsen created one of the mostintriguing female roles in modern drama. In 1889, the sixty year-old playwright becameinfatuated with eighteen year-old Emilie Bardach, a young woman whosephotographs closely resemble Ibsen's descriptions of Hedda Gabler. Examples: a: patriarchal marriages ... This "child" of Thea's and Lovborg's, his newestbrilliant manuscript, will surely settle the decision in Lovborg's favor -until chance places the manuscript in Hedda's hands. Lovborg and Brack, however,still relate to Hedda as her former entity. Ibsen's comments upon hercharacter, expressed through Hedda's actions, are clear throughout: Heddais the unquestioning prisoner of all social distinctions that exist as partof the status quo; as such, she is unable to conceive of, much lessconsider, any solutions to the stifling of her identity as an individualwoman. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. ... A recapitulation of the plot is necessary for reference (Ibsen 5 1-6 4): HEDDA GABLER, the 29 year-old daughter of the aristocratic GeneralGabler, has married well-meaning, middle-class academic Jorgen TESMAN onsomething of a whim - after having clandestinely flirted for years withTesman's rival, the brilliant but self-destructive Eilert LOVBORG. European male society, by the end of the century,had left behind such Romantic Individualism - in favor of a groping towardsmore "socially responsible" philosophies such as Socialism andEgalitarianism. [pays] tribute to women's superior nurturing andrelational skills and their general 'ethic of caring' (Kaminer 59)."Marilyn Quayle, far from a self-identified feminist but echoing neo-feminist Camille Paglia, asserts this clearly: "Women don't want to beliberated from their essential natures (Kaminer 62)." It is quite obvious that this position is not wholly embraced byHedda - just as it is not by all feminists. In Act II,Lovborg receives the opposite treatment: although he had been accustomedto speaking to Hedda on familiar terms when alone with her, she nowwithdraws that right from him - enjoying his discomfort at the effort ittakes. During the course of a night's (offstage) revels, Lovborg fallsprey to his old weaknesses, drunkenness and debauchery, and loses the onlycopy of his brilliant new manuscript extant - which is retrieved,innocently enough, by Tesman. New York: New York University Press, 1991.Ibsen, Henrik. Thea is very uncomfortable with the expression; Hedda, aprisoner of her own aristocratic class presumptions, is very easy with theability to bestow such minor favors upon the lower classes. That he has been successful is proven by the continuedinterest in the play. BRACK: (with a glance at Hedda) With the very greatest of pleasure. Women, Love & Power: Literary and Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Tesman has overextended himselffinancially in order to impress his aristocratic bride - but returns to hisbourgeois academic community on the expectation of a major universityappointment arranged by the wealthy, politically influential (from Hedda'supper circle) BRACK. . Going to a whorehouse where he thinks the manuscript wasstolen from him during his drunken revels the night before, Lovborg triesto threaten the madame with the pistol - it goes off in his pocket andshoots him in the abdomen. Thea, upon entering the Tesman household (Act I), speaksonly on formal terms to Hedda and Tesman, as befits someone of lower status- it is Hedda who, in a successful attempt to draw out information aboutLovborg from Thea, "grants" Thea the right to address her betters onfamiliar terms. Hedda is deeply involved in a "romantic" vision of Life andLove, two 19th Century themes whose capital letters are deliberately "Sturmund Drang" emphasized. I will only try to make an end of it all - the sooner the better. Indeed,to a certain extant, Ibsen parodies the controversies surrounding hisearlier plays. . Nora in A Doll's House recognizes that she was the"doll" of her father (Bell & Offen 17-24); while Hedda was obviously nottreated as a "doll," she was initiated into the nonverbal figurations ofpatriarchal society nevertheless. Thereis no attempt made in the drama to explain her reasons for marrying Tesman;she did not allow herself intimacy or marriage with Lovborg, as sheexplains, for fear of scandal. What most characterizes deconstruction, particularly in relation to aplay structured as Hedda Gabler is, is its notion of "(con)textuality," aview of language as it exists not only in books, but in speech, in history,and in culture. Tesman; it is a role that Hedda does not fit well into, but never doesshe openly protest the designation - to them. A short time later, as Thea makes a second appearance, Heddademonstrates her control over Lovborg by egging him on to begin drinkingagain. In Ibsen's time, this movement had itshands full simply fighting for recognition of women as humans worthy ofserious societal consideration. Rather, accepting the Ibsenbattlefield for what it is - an irregular terrain filled with pitfalls andstrategic advantages - this essay will examine Ibsen's realistic socialdramas, specifically Hedda Gabler, from a decidedly feminist perspective. Henrik Ibsen, creator of the "realistic" school of drama that hasdominated the 2 th Century theater agenda, has travelled a curious path ofcritical review. --- Will you try to - to do it beautifully? Thea tellsTesman and Hedda of her concern for Lovborg, who, after years ofdissipation, has written a brilliant book and is now returning to hisformer academic world to present it. In the end, somewhat prompted by an independence ofspirit exhibited by Emilie - a combination of aristocratic assumptions and"women's suffrage" attitudes prevalent in the upper circles of Europeansociety - the older man fled to another city, writing to the young womanand telling her she must no longer try to contact him (Beyer 157-167). Critic Jeannette Lee writes that "Hedda Gabler is the pistol(Williams 54)," and on that one point feminist - or at least feminine -critical study of Ibsen's most controversial heroine falls in step with thegreat post-factum mainstream of critical theory vis-a-vis this play, i.e.Freudianism. The stage characters are divided as to what her trueidentity is. WhenLovborg, mad with despair, rushes back to her house and confesses themanuscript's loss, Hedda prompts him to suicide with the offer of one ofher hand-crafted pistols: HEDDA: What path do you mean to take, then? To which, as the curtainrings down, Brack reacts to his sudden immersion in scandal - BRACK: Good God! Remember that. "Fools belabored him and fools defended him; hewas near to being suffocated and done for in the fog of balderdash," wrotethe acerbic critic H. That his presentation is a valid one has beenevidenced by its applicability to the contemporary social stage. Williams, Raymond. Hedda is no mere literary creation, nonexistent save within theconfines of the printed page or stage space; rather, Hedda's outlook,shaped and influenced by her father, is shared by many women. Better yet, unlike the polite denouement of ADoll's House, where Nora sits her husband down and explains the meaning ofeverything she does within a social/personal context (Baruch 145-16 ),Ibsen does not comfort Hedda, her colleagues on the stage, nor the audiencewith an explanation of her obsession with the pistols. It should be obvious that certain elements in this synopsis of HeddaGabler have been emphasized over others - the better to examine the playfrom a feminist perspective. The key here is in the play's title, Hedda GABLER:Hedda is the daughter of General Gabler, but, as the curtain rises, she isnow Mrs. TESMAN. (7 -71)." Hedda's entrapment in this duality of patriarchal vampirism -Father/daughter, Husband/wife, Lover/mistress, Creator/ inspiration - isclearly described by the action of the play, even if not "explained" soneatly as in Ibsen's other social dramas. Will you[5] not try to - to do it beautifully? Stepping away from the feminine deconstructionist view of HeddaGabler, there are still other aspects of feminist critical theory to applyto the play. Tesman, meanwhile, joins with Thea to reconstruct Lovborg'sbrilliant, destroyed manuscript from Thea's notes. LOVBORG: Thou does not love him then! Gender & Theory: Dialogues on Feminist Criticism. HEDDA: No. HEDDA: (a step nearer him) Eilert Lovborg - listen to me. assimilation: gynocidal/biocidal gluttony...feeding upon the...spirit of women and Others while tokenism disguises the devastation of the victims. Sheis even de-eroticized: the object of love and lust by Lovborg and Brack,respectively, Hedda is less "womanly" than Thea - re: rejection of theconcept of motherhood, her "adequate" hair versus Thea's "abundant"tresses; she is a bundle of contradictory, androgynous characteristics. fragmentation: patriarchally enforced sloth which enslaves women and other living creatures, severing them from their Original Capacities to Act, to Realize their potential to glimpse their Final Cause; the stunting and confining of Elemental growth, movement, and creativity by mandatory subservience assuming the forms of enforced passivity ... The Necessity of Feminism." Society (September/October 1993): 12-15.Baruch, Elaine H. ----------------------- [1]Ibsen's realistic dramas were written in Norwegian and producedthere and throughout northern Europe from the years 1877 - 1896; they werefirst translated into English, produced in Great Britain, between 19 5 -191 . There is only a page of action left to the play - and Hedda's role iscompleted offstage: She plays wildly on the piano, and is asked to stop.She asks through the curtains about the future, and is consigned by herhusband to the attentions of Brack once more. What I wanted todo was to depict human beings, human emotions, and human destinies, upon agroundwork of certain social conditions and principles of the present day(Mencken xiv)." Ibsen was, perhaps, being a bit disingenuous: his "depiction,"biographer's agree, was based upon an episode in his own life experiencedonly a year earlier. But her machinations are not finished. The women's movement of the time, however - and persistinginto the present (Wolf 18 -214) - have found themselves still immersed inRomanticism on the popular level (Radway 3-18). There is no feminine alternative tothis mythos, none has been considered. Psychologist Carol Gilligan in In A Different Voice (1982) noted thata popular feminist solution to this dilemma, which she terms "VictorianTrue Womanhood, . Sociologist Andrew Greeley, in an essay on the "Necessity ofFeminism," notes that "A mature women's movement should demand that menbecome more like women. Ibsen himself, despite the fame/notoriety attached to his earlierrealistic social dramas, particularly A Doll's House, disavowed any largersocial context for Hedda Gabler. TESMAN: No, nothing in the world. Two steps prior to that critique must betaken first, however: the playwright's own words on the subject should beheard, and an interesting fact relating to Ibsen's writing of the playmentioned. Drama from Ibsen to Brecht. his direct and adept manner ofclothing simple and even self-evident arguments in unusually lucid andbrilliant dramatic forms - in brief, his enormously effective technique asa dramatist (ix)." Clearly, when critical review is so extremely at oddswith itself, there must be some middle ground that approaches the"objective" truth; that is, an evaluation of Ibsen's plays from aperspective minus a critic's personal social agenda. As such, Hedda Gabler is farmore sophisticated in its treatment of feminist issues than theplaywright's other works; it is a true "deconstruction" of the femininedilemma. incarnated in phallo-institutions and those who invent, control, and legitimate (sic) these institutions ... Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change the 21st Century. In a scene watched clandestinely by Brack (and unsuspected byTesman), Hedda reasserts her hold over Lovborg - all the while keeping himat arm's length: LOVBORG: May I not be familiar with you[2] when we are alone? At Tesman's graciousinvitation (before he knew of the challenge), Lovborg has appeared at theirhouse. In all of her actions and relations, Heddais very clear on the restrictions of her social position on her actions. The ultimate ascendancy ofTesman over Lovborg, besides being a sham of her creation, is still withinthe confines of a frustrating, boring existence she cannot endure. Soon she, too, might be sliding down into lower-middle-class mediocrity. New York: Basil Blackwell, Inc., 1989.Mencken, H. HEDDA: But I won't hear of any sort of unfaithfulness! That battle Ibsen described in A Doll'sHouse. She tells Tesman later that she didit for him. Lovborg, upon his physicalintroduction into the play in Act II, goes so far as to whisper repeatedly"Hedda - Gabler!" to her at their first opportunity alone. "Feminism's Identity Crisis." The Atlantic Monthly (October 1993): 51-68.Kauffman, Linda, ed. L. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.Wolf, Naomi. I have lost my faith in the vine leaves. In both cases, it is Hedda's ready assumption of class and socialdistinctions that dictate her actions. New York: The Modern Library, n.d.: vii-xiv.Radway, Janice A. Ibsen is smart enough not tospeculate upon the implications of true male/ female equality: even in ADoll's House he has Nora respond to her husband's bewildered last actquestion: HELMER: "But later, Nora - later on?" NORA: How can I tell?In Hedda Gabler Ibsen suggests one version of "later on": an educatedwoman, brought up as an individual, with a husband willing to share hiswork with a female collaborator - but still unable, as a woman, toreconcile the conflicts of a patriarchal world view with her own individualdrives. Feminist cryptographers Mary Daly and Jane Caputi (7 -71) havecapsulized Hedda's dilemma in their feminist deconstruction of the conceptof marriage under the term Deadly Sins of the Fathers: ... "It was not my desire," he was toexplain, "to deal in this play with so-called problems. [3]See note #2. "Introduction." Eleven Plays of Ibsen: Complete and Unabridged. LOVBORG: Ah, I understand. He dies a ridiculous, humiliating death. A Doll's House was attacked for having Nora leave husbandand family; in Hedda Gabler a secondary character, Thea, does it as amatter of course, justifying it by off-handedly noting about her husband(Act I): "I don't think he really cares for anyone but himself." Ghostshas its hidden scandal of inherited syphilis to motor its leadingcharacters' motivations; it is only fear of scandal that binds Hedda. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987.Greeley, Andrew M. Ibsen exposes Hedda's acceptance of this status quo by severalexamples, none more cleverly than her use of language in an apparentattempt to illustrate her control over others. LOVBORG: Beautifully? - people don't do such things. Webster's First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language. Tesman, Aunt Juliana and Thea all attempt to treat her asMrs. "Hedda Gabler." Eleven Plays of Ibsen: Complete and Unabridged. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1983.Beyer, Edvard. Rather, Ibsen's point is to present a dramatically-interestingcase study. This paper will notattempt to find that middle ground. Hedda Gabler'smotivations are not so simply identified. Lovborg fulfills Hedda's ambitions, but in a cruel parody of herromantic dreams. Her insistence on avoiding scandal, thevery hold Brack's threat of exposing Hedda to it gives him over her nearthe play's end, reinforces Hedda's weakness: for all Hedda's apparentstrength of will, she is paralyzed by her acceptance of the status quo of aduality that has woman always at the submissive and weak end of the stick. Rather, and here is where Hedda Gabler anticipates moderndeconstructionist philosophy in its emphasis upon the importance of"textuality," Hedda's motivating symbols are introduced by othercharacters, or by the context of the action, not simply put forth formeaning on their own. L. [4]Stage directions and character descriptions (several cited earlier)are from Ibsen's original texts. (smiling) With vine leaves in my hair, as you used to dream in the old days? Hedda isthe product of observation, not the projection of social agenda. Tesman, respectful of Lovborg's genius while assured of his ownuniversity appointment over Lovborg by the latter's scandalous behavior,intends to return the manuscript. HEDDA: No, no. A modest dose of androgyny would permit [all]to be more compassionate and caring (13-14)." Ibsen, in Hedda Gabler,points out the eventual dead-end of such male-oriented feminist thinking.Hedda - women - the playwright illustrates through his play's action, willnever be free from the strictures of male dominance frustrating herpersonality until all of the assumptions of patriarchal society are lifted- from women as well as from men. But a budding jealousy of Thea's courageous action - even Lovborgdoes not know that she left her husband - is soon irritated in Hedda's mindby a worse irony: the return of Lovborg threatens Tesman's promiseduniversity position. New York: Random House, 1993. Suchwas their infatuation that Ibsen considered leaving his wife of severaldecades, Susanna. HEDDA: Is there nothing I can do to help you two? Brack, however, has recognized the pistol. Thea makes an appeal to Tesman tohelp keep the brilliant scholar in line; she is afraid of Hedda: aschildren the two-classes-older daughter of General Gabler was alwayscontemptuous of the lower-middle-class Thea, threatening to "burn off herirritating hair that she was always showing off." (Hedda herself,described in terms of "refinement and distinction," is specifically awareof her own "hair of an agreeable medium brown, but not particularlyabundant.") Pretending intimacy, though, Hedda learns that Thea has donewhat she dared not: inspired Lovborg to creativity and left her husband, ascandalous action, in favor of helping the brilliant-but-weak genius. He threatens Hedda'sinvolvement in the scandalous episode with exposure - unless she agrees toconsort with him on intimate, submissive terms. The use of the word "you"in Norwegian (as in most non-English languages) revolves around a "formal"("de") and "familiar" (du) expression of the word and associate verbdeclinations. [5]Hedda and Lovborg use the familiar "du" form of "you."----------------------- 19 Brack, sensing an opening, usesthis as an invitation to propose regular meetings with her - always (wink,wink - from his side, not hers) within the boundaries of propriety. (Although male critics like Mencken tried,misanthropically clever as always, describing Hedda in these terms: "aneurotic and lascivious woman is apt to be horrified when she finds she ispregnant (ix).") Nora, the lead character in Ibsen's A Doll's House,certainly is easier than Hedda to define in terms of motivation, whether ina feminist context or not: a middle-class housewife treated by her husbandas a plaything, a "doll," she rebels at the male assumption of power andintellectual superiority inherent in her current situation. Hedda,more her father's daughter than an academic's wife, expresses her sense ofenclosing captivity by taking potshots at Brack with a pair of hand-madepistols inherited from the General. He entrusts it to Hedda while going outon an urgent errand; she destroys it. Simultaneously, THEA Elvsted appears at the household. Hedda, just as many modern women, reflects a confused ambivalenceabout equality: she feels that her submission to the Male Order of hersociety is wrong for her personally, but she cannot - or does not know how- to rectify that situation without sacrificing elements of herself/herposition in that society that she will not or cannot do without (Kaminer59). As deconstructionistphilosopher Jacques Derrida points out (Kauffman 1-7), related totextuality is the broader cultural background, the context that saturatesthe text with innumerable and nonverbal conventions, concepts, figurations,and codes. THEA: Ah, if only I could inspire your husband in the same way. Androgyny and contradiction are key characteristics of thecontemporary feminist movement. Indeed, Hedda continuallyidealizes "romantic" solutions to the problem of Self versus Society:always, vis-a-vis her imposition of certain standards upon Lovborg'sexcesses - "Comradeship in the thirst for life," she describes it in ActII; specifically, in her instigation of Lovborg's suicide in Act III: HEDDA: ... HEDDA: (passes her hands softly through Thea's hair) Doesn't it seem strange to you, Thea? Nevertheless, this dichotomy of Wife/Individual is not one thatHedda advertises herself - she is too aware of the Class/Society andScandal/Propriety textuality of her situation. Here you are sitting with Tesman - just as you used to sit with Eilert Lovborg? To both Lovborgand Brack, Hedda is candid about how little "marriage" she feels to JorgenTesman. By the time of writing Hedda Gable, eleven years later, thechronicler of human relations had moved beyond his own contemporarysituation to where the women's movement stands presently. You may think it; but you mustn't say it. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.