Hedda Gabler – Villain
It is said that women are so emotionally complex that they do not understand themselves. Particularly, when society places shallow expectations upon women. Women did not have the opportunity amid the eighteenth and nineteenth century to forge their own destinies. They were forced to live within the superficial roles created by a male dominated society of being nothing more than unassuming housewives and mothers. When we take a closer look at Hedda Gabbler, we see a woman who is candidly mind boggling no doubt. She is trapped in a loveless marriage, less desirable lifestyle, and an endless pursuit of self-gratification. As a reader, suppositions will shift, depending on what lens one may choose to look at her character. We will examine Hedda Gabler through the eyes of the author, characters: Juliane Tesman and Loveborg; we will likewise perceive how she saw see herself and conclude with my interpretation of her.
From the beginning, we learn from the author that Hedda Gabler is a hard to please aristocrat. She is selfish, self-centered, demanding, and rude. The atmosphere is fused with tension of pleasing Hedda. Miss Tesman is consumed with making sure everything is perfect for her, she even purchased a new hat so that Hedda would not feel ashamed of her if they go on a walk together (784). Bertha, only having encountered Hedda the evening her and George returned home from their honeymoon, is also fearful that she will not be able to satisfy Hedda because of how particular she is and wanting things her way. The author reveals that Hedda is also proud and demanding. The first thing she does upon meeting his favorite aunt and Bertha, who is more like family to George than a maid, is instruct them to no longer call him Mister Tesman, which is a respectful title, but to call him Doctor Tesman instead. She has a superior attitude even towards family, when Aunt Tesman comes to greet Hedda, she extends her hand and formally addresses her as Miss Tesman. The author also sees Hedda as rude and patronizing. She was not even in the room more than ten minutes of waking up and she is complaining about the maid, “Uch! Look at that. The maid opened the door. I’m drowning in all that sunlight” (787). When aunt Tesman tries to fix the problem, she speaks to her in patronizing way… "no, no, don’t do that. Tesman my dear, just close the curtains. That gives a gentler light” (787). She never thanked her for her willingness. Not to mention, aunt Tesman was at the door, but Hedda acted as if she was incapable of closing the curtains just right to get that gentler light. She continues to complain about the flowers, knowing that no one other than aunt Tesman could have bought them because they were not there the previous night. Her egocentric behavior does not stop there, she insinuates that Bertha the maid will not last because “…she’s left her old hat lying there on that chair” (788). Again, Hedda, rudeness is cruel and unwarranted. We can assume that she might have not considered that the hat belonged to aunt Tesman’s because she has no regard for anyone other than herself, which at this point, one can doubt that assumption. Furthermore, she was willing to fire the maid, who raised her husband over what she feels is an unattractive hat left in the chair. The author, from Act One alone has painted a clear picture of Hedda Gabler.
Before Hedda enters the story, George illustrates Hedda as a trophy wife when he brags to his aunt how beautiful his new wife is “I believe I have quite a few friends in town who envy me” (784). George also lets us know that his wife is a demanding woman, who must have things her way. He is obviously unemployed at the time of their honeymoon, however Hedda insisted that they take a longer honeymoon even though it was costly, “You’re right-it was a bit costlier. But Hedda just had to have that trip, Auntie. She really had to. There was no choice” (785). George is totally consumed with the idea of Hedda; she is attractive, charming, and is an aristocrat. He is completely overwhelmed with the idea of her that he does not realize that she is not in love with him. He is so infatuated with Hedda that even in the wake of discovering that she burned Loveborg’s manuscript he believes she burned it for his sake. In any case, as much as George was charmed by the possibility of marrying someone like Hedda Gabler, I don’t think he loved her. He was more consumed with what she represented for him, which was privilege. He paid her no attention on the honeymoon, being more consumed with his research. In the end, he did not take notice of his wife’s jealously towards him and Mrs. Elvsted spending so much time together trying to rewrite Loveborg’s manuscript. He never realized the type of woman Hedda truly was and not to mention how unhappy she was.
Although George did not recognize Hedda’s manipulating and heartless character, Mrs. Elvsted, over time realized that something was terrible wrong with Hedda. In the beginning, she was apprehensive about trusting her truth with Hedda. She recalls the type of person Hedda was when she was younger. Hedda use to pull her hair in school and threatened to burn it off (793). Mrs. Elvsted viewed Hedda the same way she did when she was younger. She was afraid of her and did not trust that Hedda had changed from being a bully. She had already forced Mrs. Elvsted into the armchair, preventing her from leaving, while trying to force her to talk. In addition, she continues to pressure her to talk by manipulating her with lies about how close they were in school; however, Mrs. Elvsted corrects her and is adamant that Hedda is mistaken. In addition, she is leery of Hedda’s sudden kindness, “Oh, you’re being so friendly to me. I’m just not used to that” (793). Reluctantly, Mrs. Elvsted begins to trust Hedda as she shares the truth about her and Lovborg. However, that trust is short lived as Hedda’s true intentions surfaces when she shares with Lovborg how Mrs. Elvsted came to them earlier disclosing their business. Mrs. Elvsted questions Hedda’s motives, “There is something behind this, something else you’re trying to do” (816). Hedda continues to reveal her irrational behavior and even stating how she is envious of Mrs. Elvsted, while admitting to her childhood mischief of desiring to follow through with cutting her hair off. It is at this point, Mrs. Elvsted is starting to realize she should have never trusted Hedda. She knows something is extremely unsettling about her, “Let me go, let me go, I’m afraid of you” (816). Although she stays the night waiting for Lovborg at Hedda’s forceful request, it’s not because she trust her but because she is afraid of what Hedda is capable of, especially since she told Hedda of her affair with Mr. Lovborg.
Hedda Gabler is a woman you don’t want to cross. Her mental instability makes her a dangerous predator. She marries George out of boredom. This is nothing new, we have all read stories of rich, spoiled girls marrying outside of their class because they want adventure, yet there was nothing fearless, bold, or exciting about George. The newlywed couple took an almost six-month honeymoon, but there was no mention of wild adventures, romance, sex, laughter, talks, or long walks on the beach. The honeymoon helps a couple develop a deeper form of intimacy. It’s the first time, especially back in those day, to really know each other in every way for the first time without any outside distractions. However, we see this was not the case for this newlywed couple. George is consumed with his research on their honeymoon, “all those archives I had to wade through-and all the book I had to read!” (785). It makes me question did she not know George and had an unrealistic expectation of what it would be like to marry someone of a lower-class. Some may say, this is the reason, she becomes so cold-hearted and rude, but I beg to differ. When we go back to the exchange Hedda and Mrs. Elvsted had with each other, we see that Hedda was a mean-spirited teen as well. I believe Hedda was a rich spoiled girl, who perhaps , was never loved and was overlooked growing up. She was envious of Mrs. Elsvsted when they were just children and as an adult. I agree with the author's perception of Hedda Gabler, however I believe that if George would have paid some attention to her, maybe, the story would have not ended so tragically.
Ibsen, Henrik. "Hedda Gabler" The Norton Anthology World Literature. Martin Puchner. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 781-800. Book.