Hedda as the Hero

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that the definition of a literary hero can be stretched to encompass Hedda Gabler. While most do not see a hero at all in the play, Hedda's actions and responses are those of more than just a typical woman. It explains how Ibsen creates within this character a paradox of power and fear, uselessness and pride. Through her own self-defeating tendencies she evokes our pity as well as if she had been in true peril from an outside force.

From the Paper:

"When people think of heroes, there are some common thoughts that come to mind, such as strength, nobility and courage. In Hedda Gabler, by Henrick Ibsen, many readers find that there is no hero or, at most, find that only a few select characters even have the necessary characteristics to be termed a hero. Few, if any, would see these in Hedda. If, however, this play is seen as a struggle between man and society, then we can see Hedda as a hero for struggling through her adversity and overcoming the boundaries that her opponent has contained her within. This would qualify Hedda as a hero in light of two distinct views of a hero. The first is one of several definitions given in Webster's New World Dictionary, "the central male character in a play, novel, poem, etc., with whom the reader or audience is supposed to sympathize" (632). The second comes from critic John Northam, "...the tragic hero should be see to be in conflict with forces that are powerfully represented...For a man of Ibsen's generation the great opponent of man was seen to be society" (95)."

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