Hedda In The Written Play example essay topic

The play written by Henrik Ibsen entitled, Hedda Gabler, focuses on the distress of the main character of Hedda and the conditions of her life that drive her to her own death. At the end of this Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, Hedda kills herself. The protagonist of the play has several reasons for wanting to end her own life. One of the main reasons Hedda reveals for taking her own life is the fact that she is not happy with her living conditions, mainly seen through the circumstances of her life and her surroundings. Hedda's unhappiness seems to come from not having fulfilled her wishes and the source of her discontent is her sense of dissatisfaction with her perception of a lack of accomplishments. Hedda even goes so far as to tell Judge Brack that she did not marry George Tesman because she loved him, but because her time was up, and she needed to make a match.

She confesses and confides in the judge about her marriage. Hedda went ahead and married Tesman not for love, but because she felt an obligation to settle down with a lifelong companion once and for all. The setting in which this play took place implies some of the preconceptions for the play. In the past, a stable marriage was a necessity for any type of respectable woman. So if Hedda ever wanted to be accepted into the society in which she lived, she would have to get married to a respectable man before she got too old.

The stage setting at the live performance foreshadows the subsequent events of the play. The setting in which Hedda is surrounded by and lives makes it almost obvious that she would eventually take her own life due to the depressing atmosphere. Interestingly though, in the written work of Henrik Ibsen, the audience is shocked to learn that Hedda takes her own life. In the written play, the occurrences of the story, and even the tragic events that take place, are presented in almost a comedic light. This comedic sense is achieved through presenting Heddas character as sarcastic, in a funny way. Heddas use of witty commentary about other characters boosts Heddas self esteem, so that she feels better about herself by depreciating others.

She does some evil things to the people that trust her, such as burning E ilbert Lovborg's manuscript, as well as encouraging him to commit suicide. At the same time though it seems as if Hedda commits these acts only because she sees no other way of getting what she wants. Again, the audience can relate to Heddas character, in the way that her sense of hopelessness drives her take unjust actions. In the live performance of the play, Hedda comes across as an evil and devious creature who has no regard for anybody other than herself. In the written play, Hedda acts more human, since her behavior is more realistic.

The audience reads about her character making the mistakes and committing the sins that all people sometimes succumb to. The ending of "Hedda Gabler" is more shocking in the written version, because the mood and the setting combined in the written play are lighter, less depressing than the atmosphere of the live performance. Like the majority of written plays, Henrik Ibsen opens the play by describing the setting in which the play takes place: The action takes place in TESMAN'S residence in the fashionable part of town... A large, attractively furnished drawing room...

A number of bouquets of flowers are placed about the drawing room in vases and glasses. Others lie on the tables... Morning light. The sun shines through the glass door. (220-221) The description of the setting at the opening of the written play provides the audience with the impression of a happy home. At the beginning of the live performance of the play, Hedda is standing in a dark room and repeatedly striking herself severely in the stomach.

Immediately, the audience assumes the worst about Hedda as possible circumstances start formulating in their minds of the atrocities that could drive a person to become so desperate, so the mood is instantly set for a tragedy to occur. Another feature of the setting that contributes to the creation of the desired mood is the lighting of the stage, in conjunction with the decoration of the house. These two aspects generate a very sobering sense. The lighting is very dim and the house seems very dark. In addition to the faint lighting, the room is decorate in very heavy, somber colors, with the furniture looking very musty and old, whereas Henrik Ibsen describes the home in the written play as being very fashionable. Conversely, the play opens with a depressing scene of dim lights and musty, old furniture.

Hedda Gabler is portrayed as a very sarcastic person in both the written play and the live performance of the play. But the Hedda that the reader is introduced to in the written play is constantly witty and humorous. Her wit is frequently seen as she makes sharp remarks, that seem to be an integral part of her sense of humor. When she is talking to the naive Thea Elvested about Lovborg, Heddas sense of humor comes through. HEDDA: '... Thea dear -- how did this -- this friendship -- between you and Ei lert Lovborg come about?' MRS. ELVESTED: 'Oh, it happened little by little.

I got some kind of power, almost, over him. ' HEDDA: 'Really?' MRS. ELVESTED: 'He gave up his old habits. Not because I'd asked him to. I never dared do that. But he could tell they upset me, and so he dropped them. ' HEDDA (hiding an involuntary, scornful smile): My dear little Thea -- just as they say-you " re habilitated him.

(240-241) Although Hedda may come across as harsh, cruel and even unkind at times, the audience can help smiling at her remarks. The audience then has an understanding of the protagonist because a perfect human has never existed, so Hedda is not at fault for her crude remarks because she too is also a person, and that is part of the flaw of being human. The Hedda that is portrayed in the live performance of the play is evil, and not just mean like other human beings can be at times. This evil was raw and pure, a villainies in the flesh unlike human behavior. Due to this pervasive evil, it becomes much easier to hate the Hedda that is in the live performance of the play than it is to hate the Hedda in the written play. The hatred for the Hedda seen through the live performance of the play flows with ease as her character continues to commit each act of evil.

At the end of the written play, the audience is left in shock of the fact that Hedda kills herself because it seems as if the play will go on to tell how Hedda finally gains revenge with the judge by doing something evil to him in order to avoid becoming his mistress. At this point the audience is convinced and truly believes that Hedda is too smooth and too collected to take her own life simply in order to not have to succumb to the wishes of the Judge. Hedda has presented herself as such a suave character so far, that it seems impossible that she would do anything as impulsive as taking her own life. Also, she seems to relish in getting revenge and seeing others lose, so she would want to be around to watch Judge Brack's reaction when he finally realizes that he cannot have her.

But once Hedda takes her own life watching the Judge squirm in his own realization becomes unattainable since she obviously won't be able to do so if she is deceased. At the ending of the live performance, it seems obvious that she will take her life, since Hedda has grown so miserable and full of hatred since the beginning of the play until the very end when she ends her life in such a cowardly manner..