Control In Hedda Gabler

In Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, Hedda Gabler is a woman in her late twenties who grew up in an aristocratic family during the Victorian period. Hedda was the daughter of General Gabler, and she was raised to be part of the high society social class. Hedda is very much a product of her own high society. Hedda married into a middle-class family, the Tesman’s. When Hedda married George Tesman, she entered a social situation she could not control. She identified herself as her father’s daughter, not as her husband’s wife. The only thing Hedda had ever wanted in her life was control. She had a desire to control her husband, everyone around her, and most of all herself. The first example of when Hedda exhibits control over others is with her husband,

Hedda is said to be approaching her thirties and that is why she settled into marrying George Tesman. She does not love her husband, but she “doesn’t expect to be unfaithful, either,” all because of the risk of scandal. This deathly fear of scandal is all part of Hedda’s obsession with keeping up appearances. In many cases throughout the story, Hedda might be burning with extreme anger on the inside, but she keeps a steady head on the outside. However, we see that rage bubble over every now and then, in Act I Hedda is finally left alone and she “moves about the room, raising her arms and clenching her fists as if in a frenzy.” Still, Hedda remains a prisoner to the Victorian values. This leads to another problem of Hedda’s, her lack of courage. She sees how she is conforming to to the ways of society and she hates herself for it. Hedda calls herself a coward many times throughout the story. She’s a coward because she isn’t willing to go against the ways of her upbringing. Despite the fact that Hedda lived in a period where ladies should follow in the shadow of men, she represented herself in a very negative way. The basic conflict of Hedda Gabler is between self and society. Hedda lived in a society that suppressed women,