Title: Hedda GablerAuthor: Henrik IbsenDate of Publication: 1890

Biographical Information about the author:

Genre(s) and characteristics of genre(s):

Historical information about the period of the novel’s setting:

BRIEF plot summary (just the highlights please):

All of the action takes place in the Tesman household, the living room in particular. Mr. Tesman and Hedda are newlyweds who have just returned for their honeymoon. Aunt Juile comes to visit them, and we learn that she was the one who raised George and will support him financially. It is also revealed that Hedda is of a higher class, and hard to please. Mrs. Elvsted, an old friend comes to visit in search of Ejlert Lovborg, who she is afraid of going off the deep end. Judge Brack arrives and informs Mr. Tesman he may have competition for the professor job from Ejlert Lovborg. This worries Tesman, and he informs Hedda that she must cut back her spending until the job is secure. Act 2 begins with Hedda and the Judge talking. Hedda tells him that she doesn’t really love Tesman and that she was just bored. She also says that she doesn’t really like the house that Tesman bought for her and that she only said she did to make conversation. Ejlert arrives at the Tesman’s and says that he doesn’t want the job, but he has a manuscript about the future. While the other men go for a drink, Hedda and Ejlert talk about the close friendship they once had. Mrs, Elvsted arrives, Hedda hints the idea that other men see Ejlert as a coward for not drinking and tells him that Mrs. Elvsted was worried causing him to get angry. He downs two drinks and decides to go to the party. Mrs. Elvsted waits all night for him to return. Tesman comes home first in the morning and says he found Ejlerts manuscript that he dropped. Before he can return it he gets news that his Aunt Rina is about to drive. Next the Judge arrives and tells Hedda what actually happened and how Ejlets was arrested. Finally Eilert arrives and he says that he destroyed the manuscript, but then reveals to Hedda that he actually lost it. She gives him a gun and tells him to make it beautiful. She then burns the manuscript referring to it as a child. Act four starts with Aunt Julie telling Hedda of Aunt Rina’s death. Mrs. Elvsted arrives and says she heard Ejlert was in the hospital. Judge arrives and confirms this, and that he tried to kill himself. He says aside to Hedda that it was an ugly death and the gun could be traced. She goes into the other room and shoots herself.

MAJOR WORK DATA SHEET Name:___________________________Period_______

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CHARACTERS

Name Role in the story Why the character is significant to the story

Adjectives from the story that describe the

characterGeorge Tesman Hedda’s Husband, in

the running to be a professor.

The main character

An old school friend of Hedda, and friend of George.

Possible competition to Tesman. Old close friend of Hedda

Another friend of Hedda’s and friend and finance worker for George.

George’s aunt. She raised him and plans on helping him financially.

He ties Hedda down and bores her. But he also provides for her and does everything to give her everything she wants.

She drives the entire story, and instigates many of the conflicts. It is her life that the story surrounds.

She is the one who comes and informs of Ejlert arrival. She loves him and is worried about him losing his sobriety.

He poses a threat to Tesman. His actions prompt most of the events and the finale where Hedda kills herself.

He is there to provide the audience with information they may have not otherwise have known.

She allows our first views on Hedda and reveals more into Hedda’s personality.

Intelligent, worrier, submissive.

Beautiful, insane, rude, upper-class.

Worried, angry, upset, young

Sober, intelligent

Logical, rational, connected

Motherly, friendly, mourning.

Hedda Gabler

Mrs. Elvsted

Ejlert Lovborg

Judge Brack

Aunt Julie

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The Tesman’s housekeeper

Berta is merely a stock character.

Berta

In This column, choose two quotes from the text, one focusing on each of the following literary elements:

In this column, analyze the significance of your quotations to guide your responses: Why is this important: What does this reveal? Why does the author say it this way? What is the tone/mood of this passage?

Theme:

“But Hedda Dearest-don’t go playing dance music tonight.”

“Otherwise, people might get the idea that you’re not very bold at heart. That you aren’t very sure of yourself at all.”

One of the themes in this play is society can tame an otherwise wild nature. At the end of the play, right before Hedda decides to kill herself she plays a wild dancing number on the piano. This represents the wild nature she has inside of her. Since she plays it right before her death, it shows that she is about to free herself from society and everything that had been keeping her restrained.

Another theme is that courage comes through the rebellion of society. Drinking was considered rebelling during the Victorian age. Ejlert, however, had become sober. When he refuses to drink at the Tesman house the other men look down upon him. Hedda convinces him that they think he is a coward for not drinking.

Characterization

“Here use it now!And beautifully, Ejlert Lovborg. Promise me that!”

Ibsen characterizes Hedda as being border line insane. At the beginning of the play it isn’t clear that Hedda is insane. She is just characterized as an upper-class woman who is just uptight and hard to please. However, throughout the course of the play we begin to see that she truly is messed up. First she gives an emotionally unstable man a gun and tells him to kill himself and make it beautiful. Then she burns the manuscript referring to it as a child. Lastly, she goes into the other room plays dancing music and then shoots herself.

Setting

“A Large, attractively furnished drawing room, decorated in dark clothes. “

The setting is the Tesman’s living room and the small room of off the side. Throughout the entire play the setting remains unchanged. However, with each act there are slight differences that may be based on the time of day the

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act is occurring. There is also a large glass door with curtains that are occasionally opened to let light in, or the door is occasionally opened for Hedda to shoot her pistols into the back.

Symbolism

“Otherwise, people might get the idea that you’re not very bold at heart. That you aren’t very sure of yourself at all.”

Ibsen uses Alcohol to symbolize courage. In this quote, Hedda tells Ejlert that the other men think he is a coward because he is sober and refuses to going to the party. Its not just the fact that he doesn’t drink that makes him the coward, it is the refusal to rebel against societies standards. His sobriety symbolizes that he has chosen to conform to society and not rebel. The other men, not wanting to be cowards, choose to rebel by drinking the alcohol.

Imagery

“Now I’m burning your child, Thea! You, with your curly hair!”

Most of Ibsen’s imagery comes more from the actions of the characters and stage set up, and that is how we form most of our mental images. However, Ibsen does reference fire and burning throughout the play and his description adds greatly to the symbolism of fire. Ibsen uses fire in reference to Hedda and her sanity, the image of Hedda burning the manuscript but using the image of her burning a child adds to the question of her sanity.

Tone

“Here use it now!And beautifully, Ejlert Lovborg. Promise me that!”

The tone changes throughout the play, but overall Ibsen uses a very straightforward and matter of fact tone. He doesn’t really beat around the bush. The characters however talk in a very darkly comic tone. For instance, when Hedda gives the gun to Ejlert it has an underlying humor to the statement “and beautifully.” Yet she is still calling death beautiful adding to the dark part of dark humor.

Themes stated in sentence form: Alcoholism is a symbol of courage, to turn his back on the rules of society. You cannot rely on dreams; you will be punished for doing so. Courage comes from rebellion against society and its constraints.

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Control and power can come from beauty. Society’s restrictions can tame an otherwise wild nature. The power to decide how one dies is the ultimate freedom.

On my honor I have read this work in its entirety, and this work is solely my own unless otherwise directed.

Signature: ____________________________________________________

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