heddagableressay

8/2/2019 HeddaGablerEssay

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Bonnie Hall

Carroll

AP Literature

2 November 2011

Cruel Search for Justice

In Henrik IbsensHedda Gabler, Hedda is left with nothing but old pistols after the

passing of her father. As a result, she must marry George Tesman, the only man who proposes

to her, and live below her class and below her standards. Hedda feels that her life is full of

injustice, and these feelings drive her to do cruel, heartless deeds that influence not only her life,

but all of those around her.

Because Hedda feels trapped in her marriage to George Tesman, she refuses to consider

herself as part of the Tesman family and seeks retribution for her injustice by nonchalantly

hurting George and Aunt Julia. For example, Hedda purposefully insults Aunt Julia when she

lays her brand new bonnet on a chair and Hedda pretend[s] to think it [is] the servants (Ibsen

30). Aunt Julia purchased that bonnet specifically to impress Hedda; however, Hedda

maliciously bruises Aunt Julias pride out of spite because she is annoyed that she is now Mrs.

Tesman, a status she considers beneath her due to her upbringing. Hedda also hurts the Tesman

family by influencing George to spend well beyond his means in order to keep her happy. Hedda

takes advantage of Tesmans affection for her as he claims that he couldnt possibly ask her to

put up with a shabby style of living! (Ibsen 20). Hedda remains indifferent to her husbands

declining financial circumstances and does not display any evidence suggesting she cares that he

has run deep into debt; and borrowed money from Aunt Julia too (Ibsen 22). Hedda feels that


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being a part of the Tesman family is a great injustice in her life; therefore she does whatever suits

her fancy whether it hurts her new family or not.

Since she herself cannot be happy in her own life, Hedda does not want anyone around

her to be happy either, and she does everything in her power to ruin the happiness of those

around her such as Thea. Theas influence over Eilert Lovborg greatly bothers Hedda because

she was once the object of Lovborgs affection. Despite Theas statement that a womans

shadow stands between her and Eilert Lovborg and Heddas knowledge that she is in fact the

woman Thea speaks of, Hedda experiences an intense jealousy of Theas power to influence

Lovborg (Ibsen 18). As a result of this jealousy, Hedda attempts to destroy Thea and Lovborgs

relationship. She does so by revealing Theas limited faith in Lovborgs ability to stay sober and

control himself when she speaks of Theas mortal terror and state of distraction in front of

Lovborg. Once again Hedda feels that her situation is an injustice as Thea is now Lovborgs

inspiration and comrade just as she used to be. Therefore, Hedda does everything in her power

to end Theas happiness including destroying the manuscript that Thea and Lovborg had written

together: an act that Hedda considers burning [their] child (Ibsen 59).

Just as she does with Thea, Hedda tries to sabotage Eilert Lovborgs happiness and uses

him to satisfy her feelings of injustice in her life. Knowing Lovborgs inability to control

himself when he drinks, Hedda sets him up to make a fool of himself. She plays to his ego by

claiming that people might be apt to suspect that in [his] heart of hearts [he does] not feel

quite secure quite confident in [himself] if he does not engage in social drinking (Ibsen 42).

Just as she anticipates, Lovborg gets out of control, has a scandalous night, and loses his

extremely important manuscript. Lovborg comes to Hedda in despair and proclaims that he has

lost the childutterly lost it, and despite the fact that she is in possession of the missing


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manuscript, Hedda does not inform Lovborg (Ibsen 58-59). By not telling Lovborg that she has

the manuscript, Hedda demonstrates that she has gained power over him. Because Hedda feels

she has no control over the injustice in her life, she takes pleasure in being able to influence the

lives of those around her. Therefore, she allows Lovborg to continue in his misery, destroys his

manuscript, and encourages him to take his own life and to do it beautifully (Ibsen 59).

Hedda ultimately kills herself because of her failed attempts to rectify the injustice she

experiences. She never attempts to make the best of her situation or enjoy her life; instead she

stands by her assertion that she know[s] of no reason why [she] should behappy (Ibsen 30).

She spends her time making other people miserable claiming that impulses come over [her] all

of a sudden; and [she] cannot resist them (Ibsen 30). By the conclusion of the play, all of her

attempts to sabotage the lives of those around her in order to correct the injustices in her life only

backfire, and even she realizes that everything [she touches turns] ludicrous and mean (Ibsen

68). In the end, Heddas attempts to gain control over her life and rectify her injustices lands her

in the direct power of Judge Brack, and she takes her own life as a result of this devastating

circumstance.

Heddas feelings of injustice in her life were not the result of a demented or evil

personality but rather the product of societys role in teaching women what is important and of

what they are capable. All of her life, she had been taught that material luxuries were necessities

and to avoid scandal at all costs. As a result of this upbringing, Hedda knew of no other power

than to manipulate the lives of those around her in order to make the injustices of her life right

again. Therefore, Hedda Gabler was brought up to fall just like many other women of her time.


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Works Cited

I bs en , Henr i k . Hedda Gabler . Mi neo l a , NY: Dover Pub l i ca t i ons , I nc . ,

1990 .

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