"Hedda Gabler" and Character Study

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the power of human sadness is illustrated in Henrik Isben's play, "Hedda Gabler", and how, by employing dramatic techniques, Isben is able to create a complex character inHedda. It analyzes how Isben supplies us with many insights into Hedda's character and how, through powerful devices such as circular conclusion, symbolism and imagery, we are able to piece together aspects of Hedda's personality that might have led her to commit suicide. It looks at how her pain and loss of control push her to believe that the only solution is removing herself from the situation.

From the Paper:

"Another aspect of the play that the casual observer might miss is Hedda's true character. Many might simply pass her off as a spoiled snob, but upon closer inspection, Hedda is a woman that was suffering. In fact, Mary Kay Norseng notes that the "evil" aspects of Hedda's behavior are more provocative than her pain, but that her pain provides the key to her "inner logic of her character" (Norseng). Norseng even goes as far to say that Hedda's suicide "is not inextricably intertwined in the roots of her past. It is a whim of the present" (Norseng). Norseng also adds that a common misunderstanding about suicide is that it is a selfish act."

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