Hedda Gabler

I really enjoyed reading Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.  The storyline is so frustrating, yet at the same time compelling.  Much of this being because of the character Hedda Gabler herself.  Hedda is a horrible woman.  While she can be argued as misunderstood and with a father to be blamed for her actions, I think that is not a just way to view her character.  She is a sociopath, simply bored with the world that surrounds her.  I wanted to relate her as somewhat of a Scarlet O’Hara type of character.  However, while I think Scarlett O’Hara is very similar in the way that she is able to manipulate and create pawns out of everyone around her, she at least does it for some sort of a purpose.  She knows how to get what she wants through life.  That, in my opinion, at least gives her some deserving admiration.  Hedda, on the other hand, is simply bored with life.  She feels she has no other responsibilities and is therefore left only with the amusement of belittling and acting as a puppet-master.  The saying: “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings,” certainly leaps to mind when reading this play.  

Saying this, I admit that since it was my first time reading this play, I can definitely see myself re-reading it and finishing it with an altered view of Hedda.  Perhaps I would be able to sympathize with her after a second analysis of the character.  A definite variable of how the character is viewed would be how it is performed.  The actor and director could certainly persuade the audience either way with their own interpretations of it.  This definitely exemplifies why reading a play is just as, if not more, important than viewing a performance of it.  It will be interesting to see which way the performance for class exemplifies Hedda.