Analyzing the Character of Hedda with Academic Research - Essay Example

Analyzing the Character of Hedda Thesis: Although Hedda can be viewed as a mean character, she is just bored and emotionally disturbed with her personality. Before anyone can view Hedda as a bad character, perhaps it is more important to ask why she behave the ways she does. In the first place, this is the Victorian era; a time when being a woman was not easy. For instance, Hedda was forbidden from handing around men unless she was in the presence of a chaperone. When in the presence of a man, especially her husband, she was forbidden to use the word “night” lest it be perceived that she was amorous. This was a tough period for Hedda (Ibsen, Gosse & Archer 789). The only things expected from her were compliments for her husband. This was a difficult time when women had to sit back and be submissive to their husbands. No woman would question a man. Men were revered, only referred to by the titles of their professions. As result, she loses the much-needed freedom. Because, she is bored and cannot freely hang out with other people, she resorts to routines such as playing with people’s emotions, a skill she perfects over time. She feigns friendships and hides her true emotions. She has a unique talent; that of getting information from people (Ibsen et. al. 791). Thus, she learns other people’s secrets and uses them against them. As a result, she can manipulate people. Most of the time she asks the question that she does not answer, trickily manipulating people to get answers (Puchner et. al. 807). Maybe someone may say that after all Hedda is mean. No, she is not. She just wants to have some sense of power. She wants to have power over human beings; this is because, as a woman, she has been denied this power (Murphy 24). Instead, the men in the society have been accorded all power. This is a retaliation to have a desirable, albeit perceived, personality. She compares her personality to Thea’s. Unlike Thea’s, she has little influence. She compensates this feeling of inferiority by manipulating other people (Ibsen, Gosse & Archer 802). She wants to have academic, monetary, authoritative and professional powers. Unfortunately, she cannot have these powers in the Victorian-era-male-dominated society. She regrets being a woman. Hedda resents her life such that she lives through others (men). If she were to live as a woman, she would succumb to the expectations of the society. As a young woman, she wants to get a glimpse of the forbidden world; the world awash with male chauvinism. Her resentment is so deep that she hatches a plan to kill Eilert. Unlike her, he was free to go into the world, become an alcoholic and do whatever he pleased. This further illustrates that her aristocratic family was not helping either. Hedda yearned for freedom, to be just like the men. When she could not get this freedom, she compensated for her loneliness by killing Eilert. Unfortunately, she could not enjoy this freedom herself. Hedda did not want to conform to the demands of her time. She wanted to define her own happiness and maintain her aesthetic standards. She concentrated on how things looked in her world; not what the society expected of her (Murphy 39). She simply wanted to be free. Hedda longed for a world that was free, attractive and romantic. She perceived the tradition of making women submissive as “ugly”. This shows that she was bored and stressed, most of the “bad things” she did were due to her resentment of the world. In fact, before she commits suicide, she said, “there is beauty in death.” To Hedda, death symbolized, liberation, a break from the chains of oppressive traditions (Puchner et. al. 793). Instead of facing the realities of the Victorian era, Hedda chose to live in a fantasy, manipulating and using other people. She was a woman trapped in Norwegian traditions just like any other woman. She resented how women were treated and instead of conforming, rebelled. She despised the social standards that restricted her. She feared scandals and instead chose to marry George (Dziedzic 56). She married him because, in her society, a woman had to marry lest she be perceived as “bad”. Although, she did not honestly love her husband, she only married him to escape from scandal that she referred to as “deathly”. Although sometimes she pretends to take things normally, in various acts, she is seen clenching her fists in anger at the absurdities around her life. She was a woman imprisoned by the Victorian traditions and practices (Ibsen, Gosse & Archer 811). In essence, Hedda is a trapped woman. Literally, she has no life on her own. She must fake actions to please the society. At times, she longs to die. Because of the exceeding expectations of this era, she contemplates suicide; ultimately, she committed suicide when her emotions took a toll on her. For instance, Hedda cannot bear the thought of a judge domineering her. To compensate for this feeling, she manipulates and uses others. She commits suicide since all is lost; the struggle is lost. Besides Hedda, not all the women in the play are happy with the society’s expectations of them. For instance, it is written, “Many women might choose not to work in the pornography industry, if they were not physically or mentally coerced” (Fisanick 104). All the women feel purposeless in a society that imprisons them. Hedda was indeed pregnant, though she lived in denial. She must give birth to a child she is barely ready for. In a fit of rage, she draws a gun from the judge’s table and attempts to shoot herself. This means that she is ultimately overwhelmed by emotions (Puchner et. al. 779). She killed Eilert because this was her only way of been “free”. Hedda also exhibits cowardice. She hates scandals. However, she is willing to abide by the rule of law. She kills herself to escape from scandals. In conclusion, it can be argued that in essence Hedda is not a mean character she is just disturbed by emotions. She does most of the bad things such as manipulation and living through others because doing so gives her an autonomy; she develops a false sense of independence; a fantasy that she can live in a liberal world. Unfortunately, this was just a fantasy. She hoped to maintain and aesthetic idea far from the Victorian values (Ibsen et. al. 145). This theory views Hedda as victorious when she commits suicide. Hedda wins because she does not conform to this tradition. She does not have sex with Brack, who simply wanted to take advantage of her. Rather than conform to the Victorian practices and traditions she chooses to take her own life; to gain the elusive happiness, peace and freedom. Perhaps, rather than view her to be “bad” and manipulative, the reader should empathize with her situation in pursuit of personality and gender equity. Works Cited Dziedzic, Nancy G. Feminism. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Print. Fisanick, Christina. Feminism. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Print. Ibsen, Henrik, Edmund Gosse, and William Archer. Hedda Gabler: A Play in Four Acts. Waiheke Island: Floating Press, 2009. Print. Ibsen, Henrik, Juliet Stevenson, Philip Voss, Emma Fielding, and Michael Maloney. Hedda Gabler. Franklin, Tenn.: Naxos Audio Books, 2002. Print. Murphy, Patricia. In Sciences Shadow: Literary Constructions of Late Victorian Women. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006. Print. Puchner et. al. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume E, (3rd Edition). New York: W.W Norton & Company, Incorporated, 2012. Print. Read More