1. Presentation by Chlöe, Rachel and Abi
Hedda Gabler
Presentation by Chlöe, Rachel and Abi

2. Henrick Ibsen
Is considered the father of modern drama and one of the worlds most famous playwrights.
The Norwegian dramatist is considered the Shakespeare of the modern era.

3. Ibsen's Life
Whilst studying for his university entrance exams he composed his first play.
He directed over 150 plays over 10 years.
In which time he married and had a son.
His background reflects the character of Ejlert.
With age he became increasingly aloof and isolated, until he had a stroke in 1901 and was left debilitated until his death 5 years later.

4. Major Works Brand (1865) Peer Gynt (1867) A Doll’s House (1879)
Hedda Gabler (1890)

5. Ibsen And Women
When Ibsen addressed the Norwegian Women's Rights League he stated that his aim throughout his career had always been to “give people a higher standard” and show women as “nurturers and disciplinarians.”
Hedda Gabler and A Doll’s House contain some of the strongest female figures in dramatic history: women who yearned to live outside the imposed societal limits
Ibsen's admiration and respect for women who distinguished themselves is apparent in his personal correspondence.
Ibsen searched for perfection in the individual and women who had distinguished themselves by over coming societal obstacles imposed on them earned his highest esteem
Women whom he portrayed in his plays are strong individuals and the choices that they made were made as individuals.

6. Summary of Hedda Gabler
The entire play takes place in the Tesman's living room and in a smaller room to its side. Jorgen Tesman and Hedda Tesman (nee Hedda Gabler) are newlyweds. They have just returned from a six-month honeymoon. Hedda is aristocratic and hard to please. Throughout the play, it becomes apparent that Hedda is pregnant.
Act 1: Tesman wakes to find his Aunt Julle has arrived for a visit. Aunt Julle raised Tesman and still supports him financially. When Hedda enters, however, she is rather rude to Aunt Julle. Tesman asks her to be kinder, but she clearly has little real interest in him either. Soon, Mrs. Elvsted arrives, bringing news that Tesman's old academic rival, Ejlert Lövborg, is back in town. Lövborg had been an alcoholic and a failure, but now he has reformed. Eventually, Hedda gets Tesman to leave, and she convinces Mrs. Elvsted to confide in her. She learns that Mrs. Elvsted is scared Ejlert will start drinking again and also that she has come to look for him without her husband's permission. Mrs. Elvsted leaves and Judge Brack arrives. Judge Brack brings gossip from town, most notably that Ejlert is quite a success and may be poised to take the position at the university that Tesman is counting on getting himself. He leaves, and Tesman tells Hedda that they will have to cut back on their expenses.
Act 2: When Brack returns later that day he finds Hedda playing with her pistols, out of boredom. They talk privately for a while and agree that they should form a close, personal bond. Hedda tells Brack how bored she was on her honeymoon and how she has no special feeling for the house Tesman has gone to great lengths to buy for her, under the false impression that she desperately wanted to live there. Soon, Tesman arrives and talk turns to the stag party that Brack is throwing later that night. Ejlert Lövborg arrives and talks in earnest with Hedda while Tesman and Brack drink in the other room. Then, Mrs. Elvsted arrives. Hedda plays Ejlert and Mrs. Elvsted against each other, making Ejlert think the other was worried he would begin drinking again. At this hint, he begins to drink and decides to join Tesman and Brack as they leave for the party. Mrs. Elvsted is very upset, but Ejlert promises to return in a few hours to escort her home.

7. Summary of Hedda Gabler 2
Act 3: Begins just before dawn, with Mrs. Elvsted sitting up, still waiting for Ejlert to return. Hedda is asleep on the couch. Soon, she awakes and sends Mrs. Elvsted in to sleep on her bed. Tesman arrives and tells his wife that he has possession of Ejlert's fabulous manuscript, which Ejlert dropped while walking home drunk. Tesman plans to return it to him but is called away, hearing that his Aunt Rina is dying. Brack arrives and tells Hedda that Tesman left before Ejlert got into real trouble, that indeed he has been arrested. Brack leaves, and Ejlert arrives. He tells a shocked Mrs. Elvsted that he has destroyed his manuscript. She is crushed and leaves immediately. Then, Ejlert confesses to Hedda that he has, in fact, lost the manuscript and that he wants to kill himself. Hedda does not tell him she has the manuscript; she simply gives him one of her pistols and tells him to have a beautiful death. He leaves, and she burns the manuscript, referring to it as the child of Ejlert and Mrs. Elvsted.
Act 4: Begins with the living room in darkness. Aunt Julle arrives. Everyone is wearing black as a sign of mourning. We soon learn through dialogue, however, that it is Aunt Rina whose death they mourn: Aunt Julle announces that she must find another invalid to take care of now. She leaves. Mrs. Elvsted arrives, reporting to have heard that Ejlert is in the hospital. Brack arrives and confirms this but reports to the company that Ejlert is, in fact, already dead, having wounded himself in the chest. Tesman and Mrs. Elvsted immediately sit down to try to reconstruct his manuscript in honour of his death, based on notes Mrs. Elvsted has kept. In private, Brack tells Hedda that it was actually an ugly death, that the pistol went off accidentally, and that scandal might ensue for Hedda. Hedda leaves the room and, after playing the piano for some moments, shoots herself.

8. Characters
Jorgen Tesman  -  Tesman is an amiable, intelligent young scholar. He tries very hard to please his young wife, Hedda, and often does not realize that she is manipulating him. Tesman is hoping for a professorship in history, and at the beginning of the play it seems that his one great rival, Ejlert Lövborg, a notorious alcoholic, no longer stands in Tesman's way. Tesman was raised by his Aunt Julle.
Hedda Gabler  -  Hedda is the daughter of the famous General Gabler; as a child she was used to luxury and high-class living. As the play begins, she is returning from her honeymoon with Jorgen Tesman, who does not have as much money as Hedda is used to. Hedda is an intelligent, unpredictable, and somewhat dishonest young woman who is not afraid to manipulate her husband and friends.
Mrs. Elvsted -  Mrs. Elvsted is a meek but passionate woman. She and her husband hired Ejlert Lövborg as a tutor to their children, and Mrs. Elvsted grew attached to Ejlert, acting as his personal secretary and aiding him in his research and writing. When Ejlert leaves her estate to return to the city, Mrs. Elvsted comes to town and goes to Tesman* for help, fearing Ejlert will revert to his alcoholism. Mrs. Elvsted went to school with Hedda and remembers being tormented by her. It is also implied that Mrs. Elvsted and Ejlert had a sexual relationship.

9. Characters
Judge Brack  -  Brack is a judge of relatively inferior rank. He is a friend of both Tesman* and Hedda, and he visits their house regularly. He has connections around the city, and is often the first to give Tesman information. He seems to enjoy meddling in other people's affairs, and implied that he ‘bats on both sides’.
Aunt Julle – Jorgen's aunt. After Tesman's parents died she raised him. She is well-meaning and is constantly hinting that Hedda and Tesman should have a baby. Aunt Julle tries to get along with Hedda but the difference in their backgrounds is painfully apparent. Lives with Aunt Rina.
Ejlert Lövborg – Tesman's biggest competitor in the academic world. After a series of drinking related scandals, causing him to become a public outcast but has now returned and published a book with rave reviews. He also has the manuscript that is even more promising. Mrs Elvsted helped him with both manuscripts and is considered their ‘child’. He once shared a close friendship with Hedda.
Berte – Jorgen and Hedda's maid, former maid of Aunt Julle. Tries very hard to please Hedda but Hedda is quite dissatisfied with her.

10. Analysis
To a large extent the play is about how Hedda has difficultly adjusting to a less aristocratic
lifestyle than she is used to, therefore it is fitting that it is titled with her maiden name.
She wishes life to be beautiful and measure up to a certain standard and the tragedy lies not
only in her suicide but that she wishes Ejlert's suicide to be beautiful.
She finds it amusing how Tesman worries about making a living.
This aristocratic privileging of "aesthetics" matters causes Hedda to feel very unsympathetic to
Tesman. She doesn't allow him to say 'we' when referring to the two of them. This also leads her to
feel no guilt when 'cheating' on him, if only emotionally, with Ejlert and Brack.
The male characters love Hedda some how or other perhaps due to her decadent sense of beauty:
Brack wishes to have a private relationship running parallel with Tesman's
Ejlert hopes that they share the same 'passion for life'
Hedda finds both notions silly, openly shows Ejlert this and teases Brack about his idea.
Even Thea feels intimidated by her
This leave Hedda to be the most powerful character in the play
She toys with others due to having no entertainment in life, this power is so far-reaching that her
suicide will lead to the other character's destruction or though we do not actually see this.

11. Explanation of Hedda’s Character.
What are her Feelings?
Desperate upon returning home, Disgusted by the prospect of bearing a child.
Is she Blameless?
No, She behaves with cold contempt towards her husband, callously and maliciously towards his aunt, with cattish jealousy towards Thea, and with violent domineering passion towards Ejlert.
Is She Limited by the conventions of the day?
Immensely, she yearns for luxuries and has ambitions to play hostess.
What is her main trait?
She has a fierce individualism, the audience admire her beauty, pride and yearning for freedom and to pity her as the victim of the dull, limited or cowardly people around her.