hegemony of men
men can be portrayed as predatory, dominative, even without being there! the mere concept of a woman being in danger projects a binary between a female victim and a male pursuer
Hedda describes the whole situation with Ejlert as a "farce": although a farce is meant to be comedic, she finds it cumbersome and boring. This lifestyle of a wife to Tesman, where she must bear witness to the periodic "farces" of their marriage, is what she finds so painful and unbearable.
Gabler Gambler
Hedda as an innocent person? She is confused and scared, she asks Tesman to ask whether her "burning zeal" is "usual with young wives". She doesn't understand her brazen actions, good psycho stuff gaming
masculinity in the 19th century? while hedda revolts against the expectations of her sex, do the men conform to their expectations? do they resist the concept of "maleness"? romanticised protagonists(preferably male but maybe female??? hedda gabler?) note that ibsen is a post-romantic, in particular realist(certified greek tragic gamer)
"As a great dramatist, he is a keen observer not only of the important social changes and problems at his time but also of the inner tensions of his characters, including men’s desire for self-esteem, their sense of social identity and so on, all of which are shaped by the bourgeois ideology of gender and ideals of masculinity."
He, C. (2008). IBSEN’S MEN IN TROUBLE: MASCULINITY AND NORWEGIAN MODERNITY. Ibsen Studies, 8(2), 134–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/15021860802538918
double perspectives: masculinity can be viewed in two ways
Close reading exemplar terrible - Drama Text
The intro should contain your overall reading, NO CONVENTIONS!
From the understanding of the play, we get the extract, as the understanding of the play will inform our reading of the extract!
Gendered lens? no thanks
Be specific when exploring your ideas in intro, for example "highlights the issues of societal expectations, gender roles, power dynamics and the fragility of social status" is vague and begets the question "what societal expectations, gender roles, etc."
showcases = bad word
highlights better :)
The idea of Hedda contemplating bearing children is a potentially good idea...
her adversity to creating life reflects her own views on the meaning of life, how she sees her self and her own self worth (relative to society), this may explain why she was so willing to end her life
Miss Tesman is being replaced by Hedda - does she feel threatened?
Throughout bad word (we know a theme is repeated)
lighting sets mood and atmosphere - pay attention to stage directions, construction of lighting, in extract! :)
vine leaves in his hair—an allusion to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and tragic insight
hedda sees self preservation and self control as beautiful in living - she thinks control of ones life begets a beautiful life. when lovborg can't live as such, hedda wants him to instead die beautifully
looks are deceiving - we think the stove is harmless like hedda, however throughout the play we learn that hedda is not simply an angy woman, but shes kinda weird and crazy (but not crazy cause calling women crazy is bad >:()
pistols are a physical connection between hedda's aristocratic upbringing
women aren't generally allowed to hold/use pistols! cause of the patriarchy
holding a gun, and subsequently holding someone's life in the balance, gives hedda a feeling of power
hedda is apparently pregnant from the start of the play, so we can infer that she is scared and disquieted for the future, i.e. motherhood
hedda as a intellectual resisting the patriarchy - concept of resisting authority? this is unique to someone with upper class roots
lovborg rejected from social circle - he has been shunned by society, he is a recalcitrant individual, because even though they forgave him he went and commit another crime
hedda wants power, though so does brack! he wants to be "the only cock in the basket", i.e. he wants hedda all to himself
Hedda has taken absolute control over her life—by taking her leave of it. she has all the power over her life when she takes it!
Hedda as an actor - she lives her life concealed by a facade, she longs for drama and excitement in her life but this facade has grown on her for too long
Hedda kills herself because she can see how her life will be in the future: her husband with leave her for Thea, and she will be blackmailed by brack into an affair
In terms of Lovborg, hedda fails while thea succeeds; while hedda can only make Lovborg live and die in an ugly fashion, Thea brings out something beautiful out of him, through working on the manuscript.
mongus
hedda suffers bouts of nerotic frenzy, i.e. neurosis
i hate this bloody exam lit
topic sentences involved in the reading, then you bring in the evidence
include ideas that are relevant to text. i.e. identity
always think why? why does hedda want control? explain this
inextricably
better understanding of feminist ideas:
live in the domestic sphere created by the napoleonic code
emdash - pause endash - hyphen, i.e. 1-10
The introduction of The Animals of Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey brings to perspective the traumatising effects of losing one's family has on children who draw on their imagination to maintain their childhood innocence. Healey explores how the narrator's trauma manifests through the monsters they see in their imagination, and the presence of an underlying sense of emptiness in their imagination.
