aesthetic?
The aesthetic gaming
Further aesthetic gaming
HEDDA [looks up with an expression of revulsion]. That as well! Oh ... Everything I touch seems destined to turn into something mean and farcical.
HEDDA. I mean, for me. It's a liberation to know that an act of spontaneous courage is yet possible in this world. An act that has something of unconditional beauty.
HEDDA [with determination]. I'd sooner die! BRACK [smiles]. People say such things. But they don't do them... There will be an unpleasant scandal... Hedda.
HEDDA [looks up at him]. And so I am in your power, Mr. Brack. From now on I am at your mercy... Subject to your will and your demands. No longer free!
TESMAN [at the desk]. I don't think it's good for her to see us at this melancholy task. I'll tell you what, Mrs. Elvsted... you'll have to move in to Aunt Julle's. Then I'll come up in the evenings. And then we can sit and work there. Eh? ... HEDDA [from the inner room]. I can hear what you're saying, Tesman.
Hedda as bored af
Hedda as manipulative
Hedda as lacking agency as a women in a patriarchy
Explore how discourse is used to represent ideas, events, and people in a specific way in a text.
Through the works of literature of the past, contemporary readers are able to understand the societal struggles and movements of history through the perspective of the disenfranchised. Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler follows the story of newly-wed Hedda Gabler, as she settles into a new life with her husband Jorgen Tesman. Published in 1890, Hedda Gabler is one of Ibsen's "problem plays", as its publication calls for a discussion on women's rights in a patriarchal society. Ibsen uses discourse through his portrayal of Hedda Gabler to represent woman of the 19th century as disengaged with society and alienated. Ibsen supposes that this is due to women lacking agency in their society.
Hedda Gabler is introduced to audiences as an apathetic and frivolous woman who finds modern life tiring, and thus is used to represent women as bored. When Tesman asks "What are you looking at, Hedda?" she responds that she's "just looking at the leaves on the trees. They're so yellowed. And so withered." Through visual imagery, Ibsen constructs a dull and muted scene from which Hedda is able to comment on as sickly. The colour yellow is further used to symbolise illness, however as only Hedda points out this, Ibsen suggests that this is only her perspective of the wider world. Ibsen portrays Hedda as seeing the world as sick and miserable, and thus represents Hedda as detached from nature and society. When discussing with Brack, Hedda slips out that she believes she is the best at "Boring myself to death". Ibsen uses characterisation to convey to audiences that Hedda feels overcome by the boredom of a modern life, as since Hedda is a wife and soon to be a mother, she finds herself destined to life a monotonous and excruciatingly dull life of motherhood. Hence, through representing Hedda as not stimulated by her boring modern lifestyle, Ibsen seeks to use the discourse of Hedda's conversations with the characters of the play to represent women as disengaged from 19th century society.
Similarly to Hedda being characterised as isolated, through her manipulation of those around her, Ibsen provides a discourse on how women are forced to seek deceptive power over others instead of agency in a 19th century patriarchal society. Out of envy for her friend Thea, Hedda grabs Lovborg's manuscript and throws it into the Tesmans' stove, declaring "Now I'm burning your child, Thea! With your curly hair! ...Your child and Ejlert Lovborg's. ... I'm burning ... burning your child." Ibsen utilises visual and thermal imagery to craft a sinister scene that radiates a scathingly hot atmosphere for the audience. Ibsen thus characterises Hedda as malicious and evil in her deceit of those around her and her crude destruction of something so valuable to both Lovborg and Thea. In doing so, Ibsen opens discourse on the motives of Hedda, suggesting to audiences that her desire to abuse and control those around her stems from her lack of power as a woman in 19th century society. Hedda is further portrayed as manipulative when she tells Ejlert Lovborg to "listen to me... Couldn't you let it happen... beautifully?" Ibsen bluntly portrays Hedda as so devious as to push Lovborg to suicide. Ibsen uses a cunning, carefully crafted tone through Hedda's dialogue to convey to audiences how thought-out her manipulative actions are. Hence, through characterising Hedda as crafty, Ibsen invites for discourse as to how women who are disenfranchised in a patriarchal society are pushed to resist through their influencing of others.
In the final act of Hedda Gabler, Ibsen uses discourse to represent women of the 19th century as lacking agency, through his portayal of Hedda Gabler as disempowered by the men in her life. Upon confrontation with Brack, Hedda admits that "I am in your power, Mr. Brack. From now on I am at your mercy... Subject to your will and your demands. No longer free!" Through a heavily emotional tone, Ibsen conveys to audiences how Hedda Gabler truly resents being losing control to Brack, and losing her freedom. Hedda is portrayed as devastated by her loss of power to Brack, and resents being controlled by a man. Near the end of the play, as Tesman convinces Thea to spend time working together away from Hedda, Hedda remarks "I can hear what you're saying, Tesman." Ibsen crafts a defeated tone from Hedda as she realises that she can no longer control her husband, who has set his sights on another woman. Hedda's voice is projected as dismal, as she has lost any control over her life, and is destined to suffer abuse under Brack. Ibsen provides audiences discourse on how, through his representation of Hedda, women of the 19th century lack freedom in their society.
Hence, Ibsen utilises discourse to represent women at the time of production as disenfranchised. Ibsen indicates that their lack of agency results in women feeling alienated and to have a bleak perspective of the world. Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, one of the most renowned Realist plays of literature, allows contemporary readers to learn from the representations of the marginalised people of history.
