Examples Of Realism In Hedda Gabler

Written Assignment

Investigative Question: How does Ibsen define a beautiful death, and to what effect?

Hedda Gabler is a work of literature focused on realism. In Ibsen’s writing he depicts an accurate representation of everyday life at the time, where women were not regarded outside their houses, and were enslaved in gender roles. Hedda, the famous daughter of General Gabler, married George Tesman out of desperation, but she found life with him to be dull and tedious. Hedda is repressed both socially and sexually. Her tragedy lies not only in her own suicide but in her desire that Ejlert should have a "beautiful" suicide: she hopes that life can be beautiful, can measure up to a certain standard, regardless of practicalities like

This creates a sense of empathy towards the characters as the story slowly unfolds. Ibsen remains objective and neutral throughout the play, never using the dialogue to present his views or to exhibit pity or scorn for Hedda or any other character. Instead, Ibsen simply presents the story as it unfolds. “I don’t want to look like sickness and death. I want to be free of everything ugly.” – Hedda, 235. A Heddas obsession with beauty helps her escape Victorian values and imagine herself in the beautiful world she craves. Hedda ends her life by dying beautifully on the sofa, with a bullet in her dead. “Because I have such a dread of scandal” - Hedda, “Yes, Hedda, you are a coward at heart.” – Lovbourg “A terrible coward.” – Hedda. Heddas relationship with lovebourd is interesting.They both seem to influence each other negatively, Hedda promoting suicide and Lovebourg negatively influencing her self-esteem, calling her a coward, and having her agree. Hedda commits suicide towards the end of the play, in doing so she demonstrates her fantasy of a beautiful death, believing that there will be no escape from her disappointing life. When she arrives at the Tesman home after her wedding trip, Hedda begins exercising control over others. First, she orders Berta to remove chintz covers from the furniture in the drawing room. Berta then learns from Juliana Tesman that Hedda had earlier directed

As the daughter of the late and esteemed General Gabler, Hedda requires a husband with social standing, an elegant home, money, servants, and other amenities stamping her as a refined and respectable aristocrat. However, stirring within her is a desire to live with democratic derring-do—to think and act independently, to take risks. But she largely represses this desire, preferring to maintain the appearances of propriety and stability instead. Thus, she rejects the intriguing but irreputable Løvborg for the humdrum but reputable Tesman. She lets it be known that she will not tolerate even insignificant offenses to her standards of propriety, such as Juliana Tesman’s new bonnet. “Just fancy, if any one should come and see it,” Hedda says. A portrait of her decorous father hangs in her home to remind her of the traditional values she is expected to uphold. Hedda’s repressed longings embroil her in conflict after she learns that Løvborg has sworn off alcohol and struck up an amiable relationship with a woman Hedda loathes, Thea Elvsted, a childhood acquaintance who is now the wife of a sheriff. Hedda wants Løvborg but refuses to allow herself to have him. Scandal might develop; her reputation could suffer. Hedda decides that if she cannot have Løvborg, neither can anyone else. She then becomes a juggernaut of destruction, destroying Løvborg’s book manuscript, his relationship with Thea, and Løvborg himself. In the end her scheming leads to her own self-destruction.