Hedda's Struggle Between Mascu

A detailed Summary of Hedda's Struggle Between Mascu

Hedda Gabler's Struggle Between Masculinity and Femininity

Henrik Ibsen portrays Hedda Gabler as a nineteenth century woman in conflict with herself. Because of her unique upbringing under General Gabler and the social standards imposed upon her as a woman, Hedda exhibits both masculine and feminine traits that are characterized by her actions throughout the play. Hedda is faced with the impossible feat of trying to live with these opposing traits. The male role she embraces in her marriage to Tesman, her desire for power over Thea and Lovborg, and her use of her father's pistols conflict with her role as a perfect wife that Hedda must have in this male-dominated society. Because it is impossible for Hedda to clearly choose between the male and female sides of her life, she tries to live a dual role by keeping her male beliefs and actions hidden. Many times, she does not speak openly, nor does she act in a manner that completely reveals the duality of her life. However, the final acts of the play reveal that these attempts to work out a compromise between her wish to behave as a male and her wish to conform to expectations of her as a woman will never work as she wants it to. Thus, Hedda kills herself rather than live a l

Thus it is a culmination of these events that forces Hedda to suicide. In the final acts of the play, her struggles with her masculinity reach new proportions when the maleness of her character is challenged with the ungraceful death of Lovborg. His death shows her defeat at an attempt to orchestrate and command another's destiny. She does not have the power to control Lovborg and can not achieve a role as a man. She makes a halfhearted attempt to fall back onto the femininity that she knows, but she sees that Thea has already begun to establish a relationship with Tesman that Hedda never could have nor wanted to achieve. The only other possibility to play the role as a female is to be under the domination of Brack. The thought of succumbing to Brack's power by his blackmail and intentions of making Hedda his mistress is so horrible that Hedda knows that she can not live that way either. She is unwilling to give up her freedom and power that she feels as a man and live according to Brack's desires. This convinces Hedda that suicide is the only option. She can not be the caretaker of Tesman because she has been denied that outlet, and now she can not act as a male because she herself will be controlled by Brack. She can not control what society expects of her nor can she control what she truly is. Remaining silent will not work, nor will pretending to be someone she is not. She is both a man and woman, and at the same time neither a man or a woman but a human being that can not tolerate the struggle between the forces brought upon her.

Early in the play Ibsen is able to demonstrate Hedda's masculinity and the problems that arise in her associations with her new husband. Hedda displays no emotion or affection towards this man. This outward show of apathy is a trait that is usually common to men, who must stoically face any battle that arises. An example of this is when Tesman yelps with joy when Aunt Julie gives him his old slippers. Though Aunt Rina had made them for Tesman a long time ago, Hedda, cold and calculated, plays the role as a man and does not take to her husband's slippers with any interest. She refuses the offer to see the shoes, telling Tesman, "Thanks, but I really don't care to." (229). Hedda does not feel any emotion towards the old slippers because she does not feel that she is a part of the Tesman family.

It is impossible for Hedda to feel that she is a part of the Tesman family because she objects to the conventions established for her gender by society. She rejects references to her pregnancy as a reminder of her gender: "Oh, do be quiet!" she snaps to Tesman when he remarks that she is filling out (230). With the suggestion of pregnancy, Hedda is not only reminded of her feminine role as a mother, but also as a wife of Tesman, something that she has as much contempt for as his lowly bedroom slippers. Hedda resents the gender conventions that dictate that she now belongs to the Tesman family, a situation that would not occur were she a man. Because of this situation, Hedda uses all her strength to keep her emotions shut in. When Tesman suggests that she is part of the family, all Hedda can say is, "Hm--I really don't know--" (232). The only way she is to carry on with this conflicting life is to re

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2205
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English