By: Henrik Ibsen Publisher: Grove Press Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Grove Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 112 Publication Date: May 10, 2001
In 1890, Henrik Ibsen premiered Hedda Gabler, a play questioning the role of women in Victorian society. Some audiences have viewed Gabler as a woman driven to desperation simply because her world has turned out to be less charmed than she hoped. For others, she is a victim of her times, unwilling to devote herself, as was expected of her, to the duties of home. Jon Robin Baitz has brushed away the cobwebs, and he serves as an ambassador from Ibsen's age to our own, preserving the intensity of the original but translating it into a spare, contemporary idiom. His adaptation provides an opportunity to understand the play through a lens shaped by feminism and a theatrical tradition beginning with Beckett. Trapped by the conventions of her age, Gabler is both a martyr and a female incarnation of Vladimir and Estragon, longing for a salvation that will likely never arrive.
Excellent edition Hedda Gabler is one of the greatest plays in modern theatre. The introduction is a bit redundant in places, but it gives an excellent account of Henrik Ibsen's writing process and other literary interpretations of the play. The translation is never sloppy and it is entirely understandable to a native English-speaker.
A beautifully structured play of a misunderstood woman. This play is a very profound character study of a quite extra-ordinary woman. Hedda Gabler is an anti-heroine. She is a woman with strong ideals who has failed to find her way in the world. What an actress is required to play this complex part! I'm not sure who could handle the part right now, but I couldn't help but imagine Bette Davis in it. She would have been able to handle the complexity of this woman whose ideals for a perfect life were so unattainable, and who could not bear to live if those ideals couldn't be met. Hedda found that she couldn't manipulate everyone around her in order to achieve her goals either, so she put a bullet through her head because it all seemed so futile to her. This play is a definite characterization play, and so is different than a lot of Ibsen's other plays which were social-problem plays.
Excellent play ! How can this be described as a boring play?! Hedda shoots herself in the end, which is very dramatic. The play abounds in black comedy. It is a funny play too, as when Hedda insults Aunt JuJu (what a silly name!) by pretending that JuJu's hat is the maid's, and saying that the hat is old and ugly. Most simple-minded readers see Hedda as being callous and cruel, because on the surface Tesman and his family appear to be nice. However, they view Hedda as a possession, a beautiful aristocratic ornament lighting up their bourgeois home. Hedda throughout her life has been treated as a possession of others, as General Gabler's daughter. When Eilert tries to make a lover of her, she responds violently. When Tesman attempts to own her, she insults him and his family. When Judge Brack blackmails Hedda, and implies that the price of his silence is her sexual favours, Hedda can't stand it anymore, that she, because of her sex and position in society, must be the object of others. Hedda must also be seen as a sympathetic character. The world of "Hedda Gabler" is one of repression, where people act according to invisible codes (similar to "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton). Hedda wishes for a world that is free from these rigid and repressive laws, and what is wrong with that desire? To be in a world where one can be their true self is Hedda's deepest wish. Tesman, the seemingly nice man, hides his deep hatred and resentment of Eilert. Judge Brack hides his lustful and conniving nature under a veneer of civilised conduct. This world is detestable to Hedda, and yet even she is a prisoner of this society. She never expresses her affection for Eilert, a person of a similar temperament to Hedda's. She cannot show her jealously of Eilert and Thea in a healthy manner. Hedda's constant movement on the stage imply her desire to escape this world, and highlight how trapped she is. When Eilert kills himself in manner most undignified, Hedda realises that in this world there is nothing romantic and beautiful, but only something ugly and rotton at the core. This is more than she can bear, and the added insults of Judge Brack drive her to suicide. Even then, she is cheated of that dignity she wished for. The characters don't give way to passionate grief, but apply logic-this doesn't happen in real life they reason. So Hedda is misunderstood, and the tragedy in her death is unrealised. It was the society that turned Hedda into a mean yet sad woman, much as it affected the other characters in a negative way.
Book purchase 1 I gave this book to my son for required reading. It was in good condition. Thank you.
Ridiculous characters and plot. "Hedda Gabler" has to be one of the most boring plays I have ever read. If you're looking for action in a play, then stay away from this one. Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll House" was mesmerizing and captivating, and this play is the exact opposite. There was no point to the plot and the ending served no purpose. Hedda was bored - that's the point; just shameful. I do not recommend.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
