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= Hedda_Gabler =
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Introduction
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'Hedda Gabler' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik
Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the
Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although
he remained back-stage. The play has been canonized as a masterpiece
within the genres of literary realism, 19th-century theatre, and world
drama. Ibsen mainly wrote realistic plays until his forays into
modern drama. 'Hedda Gabler' dramatizes the experiences of the title
character, Hedda, the daughter of a general, who is trapped in a
marriage and a house that she does not want. Overall, the title
character for 'Hedda Gabler' is considered one of the great dramatic
roles in theater. The year following its publication, the play
received negative feedback and reviews. Hedda Gabler has been
described as a female variation of Hamlet.
Hedda's married name is Hedda Tesman; Gabler is her maiden name. On
the subject of the title, Ibsen wrote: "My intention in giving it this
name was to indicate that Hedda as a personality is to be regarded
rather as her father's daughter than her husband's wife."
Characters
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* Hedda Tesman ('née' Gabler) -- The main character, newly married and
bored with both her marriage and life, seeks to influence a human fate
for the first time. She is the daughter of General Gabler. She wants
luxury but has no funds.
* George (Jørgen) Tesman -- Hedda's husband, an academic who is as
interested in research and travel as he is enamoured with his wife,
although blind to Hedda's manipulative ways. Despite George's presumed
rivalry with Eilert over Hedda, he remains a congenial and
compassionate host and even plans to return Eilert's manuscript after
Eilert loses it in a drunken stupor.
* Juliana (Juliane) Tesman -- George's loving aunt who has raised him
since early childhood. She is also called Aunt Julle in the play, and
Aunt Ju-Ju by George. Desperately wants Hedda and her nephew to have a
child. In an earlier draft, Ibsen named her Mariane Rising, clearly
after his aunt (father's younger half-sister) and godmother Mariane
Paus who grew up (with Ibsen's father) on the stately farm Rising near
Skien; while she was later renamed Juliane Tesman, her character was
modeled after Mariane Paus.
* Thea Elvsted -- A younger schoolmate of Hedda and a former
acquaintance of George. Nervous and shy, Thea is in an unhappy
marriage.
* Judge Brack -- An unscrupulous family friend. It is implied that the
Judge has a lascivious personality, which he directs towards Hedda.
* Eilert Lövborg (Ejlert Løvborg) -- George's former colleague, who
now competes with George to achieve publication and a teaching
position. Eilert was once in love with Hedda. Destroyed his reputation
in society by spending his money on depravity.
* Bertha (Berte) -- A servant of the Tesmans. Wants to please Hedda at
all times.
Plot
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Hedda, the daughter of a general, has just returned to her villa in
Kristiania (now Oslo) from her honeymoon. Her husband is George
Tesman, a young, aspiring, and reliable academic who continued his
research during their honeymoon. It becomes clear in the course of the
play that she never loved him, but married him because she thinks her
years of youthful abandon are over.
The reappearance of George's academic rival, Eilert Løvborg, throws
their lives into disarray. Eilert, a writer, is also a recovering
alcoholic who has wasted his talent until now. Thanks to a
relationship with Hedda's old schoolmate, Thea Elvsted (who has left
her husband for him), Eilert shows signs of rehabilitation and has
just published a bestseller in the same field as George's. When Hedda
and Eilert talk privately together, it becomes apparent that they are
former lovers.
The critical success of his recently published work makes Eilert a
threat to George, as Eilert is now a competitor for the university
professorship George had been anticipating. George and Hedda are
financially overstretched, and George tells Hedda that he will not be
able to finance the regular entertaining or luxurious housekeeping
that she had been expecting. Upon meeting Eilert, however, the couple
discovers that he has no intention of competing for the professorship,
but rather has spent the last few years working on what he considers
to be his masterpiece, the "sequel" to his recently published work.
Apparently jealous of Thea's influence over Eilert, Hedda hopes to
come between them. Despite his drinking problem, she encourages Eilert
to accompany George and his associate, Judge Brack, to a party. George
returns home from the party and reveals that he found the complete
manuscript (the only copy) of Eilert's great work, which the latter
lost while drunk. George is then called away to his aunt's house,
leaving the manuscript in Hedda's possession. When Eilert next sees
Hedda and Thea, he tells them that he has deliberately destroyed the
manuscript. Thea is horrified, and it is revealed that it was the
joint work of Eilert and herself. Hedda says nothing to contradict
Eilert or to reassure Thea. After Thea has left, Hedda encourages
Eilert to commit suicide, giving him a pistol that had belonged to her
father. She then burns the manuscript and tells George she has
destroyed it to secure their future.
When the news comes that Eilert did indeed kill himself, George and
Thea are determined to try to reconstruct his book from Eilert's
notes, which Thea has kept. Hedda is shocked to discover from Judge
Brack that Eilert's death, in a brothel, was messy and probably
accidental; this "ridiculous and vile" death contrasts with the
"beautiful and free" one that Hedda had imagined for him. Worse, Brack
knows the origins of the pistol. He tells Hedda that if he reveals
what he knows, a scandal will likely arise around her. Hedda realizes
that this places Brack in a position of power over her, which he
implies he will use to coerce her into a sexual relationship. Leaving
the others, she goes into her smaller room and shoots herself in the
head. The others in the room assume that Hedda is simply firing shots,
and they follow the sound to investigate. The play ends with George,
Brack, and Thea discovering her body.
Critical interpretation
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Joseph Wood Krutch makes a connection between 'Hedda Gabler' and
Freud, whose first work on psychoanalysis was published almost a
decade later. In Krutch's analysis, Gabler is one of the first fully
developed neurotic female protagonists of literature. By that, Krutch
means that Hedda is neither logical nor insane in the old sense of
being random and unaccountable. Her aims and her motives have a secret
personal logic of their own. She gets what she wants, but what she
wants is not anything that normal people would acknowledge (at least,
not publicly) to be desirable. One of the significant things that such
a character implies is the premise that there is a secret, sometimes
unconscious, world of aims and methods -- one might almost say a
secret system of values -- that is often much more important than the
rational one. It is regarded as a deep and emotional play, due to
Ibsen's portrayal of an anti-heroine.
Ibsen was interested in the then-embryonic science of mental illness
and had a poor understanding of it by present-day standards. His
'Ghosts' is another example of this. Examples of the troubled
19th-century female might include oppressed, but "normal", willful
characters; women in abusive or loveless relationships; and those with
some type of organic brain disease. Ibsen is content to leave such
explanations unsettled. Bernard Paris interprets Gabler's actions as
stemming from her "need for freedom [which is] as compensatory as her
craving for power... her desire to shape a man's destiny."
Productions
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The play was performed in Munich at the Königliches Residenz-Theater
on 31 January 1891, with Clara Heese as Hedda, though Ibsen was said
to be displeased with the declamatory style of her performance.
Ibsen's work had an international following so that translations and
productions in various countries appeared very soon after the
publication in Copenhagen and the premiere in Munich. In February 1891
there were productions in Berlin and Copenhagen. On 20 April 1891, the
first British performance of the play occurred, at the Vaudeville
Theatre, London, starring Elizabeth Robins, who directed it with
Marion Lea, who played Thea. Robins also played Hedda in the first US
production, which opened on 30 March 1898 at the Fifth Avenue Theatre,
New York City. In February 1899 it was produced as part of The Moscow
Art Theatre's first season with Maria F. Andreeva as Hedda.
A 1902 production starring Minnie Maddern Fiske was a major sensation
on Broadway, and following its initial limited run was revived with
the same actress the next year.
Many prominent actresses have played the role of Hedda: Vera
Komissarzhevskaya, Eleonora Duse, Alla Nazimova, Asta Nielsen, Johanne
Louise Schmidt, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Eva Le Gallienne, Elizabeth
Robins, Anne Meacham, Ingrid Bergman, Peggy Ashcroft, Fenella
Fielding, Jill Bennett, Janet Suzman, Diana Rigg, Glenda Jackson,
Isabelle Huppert, Claire Bloom, June Brown, Kate Burton, Geraldine
James, Kate Mulgrew, Kelly McGillis, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Jane
Fonda, Annette Bening, Amanda Donohoe, Judy Davis, Emmanuelle Seigner,
Mary-Louise Parker, Harriet Walter, Rosamund Pike, Ruth Wilson and
Cate Blanchett.
In 1970 the Royal National Theatre in London staged a production of
the play directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Maggie Smith, who gained
much critical acclaim and won a Best Actress Evening Standard Theatre
Award for her performance. Also in the early 1970s, Irene Worth played
Hedda at Stratford, Ontario, prompting 'New York Times' critic Walter
Kerr to write, "Miss Worth is just possibly the best actress in the
world."
On 26 February 1972, 'Hedda Gabler' was played at the Theatre in the
Round, New Vic, Hartshill, Stoke on Trent.
A 1973/4 Royal Shakespeare Company world tour of the play was directed
and translated by Trevor Nunn, and starred Pam St Clement as Bertha,
Patrick Stewart as Eilert Lovborg, Peter Eyre as George Tesman, Glenda
Jackson as Hedda Tesman, Timothy West as Judge Brack, Constance
Chapman as Juliana Tesman, and Jennie Linden as Mrs. Elvsted.
In 1975, a film version directed by Nunn and starring Jackson was
released as 'Hedda', for which Jackson was nominated for an Oscar.
British playwright John Osborne prepared an adaptation in 1972, and in
1991 the Canadian playwright Judith Thompson presented her version at
the Shaw Festival. Thompson adapted the play a second time in 2005 at
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto, setting the first half of the
play in the nineteenth century, and the second half during the present
day. Early in 2006, the play gained critical success at the West
Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and the Liverpool Playhouse, directed by
Matthew Lloyd with Gillian Kearney in the lead role. A revival opened
in January 2009 on Broadway, starring Mary-Louise Parker as the title
character and Michael Cerveris as Jørgen Tesman, at the American
Airlines Theatre, to mixed critical reviews.
In 2005, a production by Richard Eyre, starring Eve Best, at the
Almeida Theatre in London was well-received and later transferred for
an 11½ week run at the Duke of York's on St Martin's Lane. The play
was staged at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater starring actress Martha
Plimpton.
In April 2009, a modernized New Zealand adaptation by The Wild Duck
starring Clare Kerrison in the title role, opened at BATS Theatre in
Wellington. It was lauded as "extraordinarily accessible without
compromising Ibsen's genius at all."
In 2010, 'Hedda Gabler' was performed at the Theatre Royal in Bath,
directed by Adrian Noble. The production starred Rosamund Pike as
Hedda, earning praise for her "compelling and multifaceted
performance, which highlighted both the vulnerability and manipulative
strength of Ibsen's iconic character."
In 2011, the performance of a production of the play as translated and
directed by Vahid Rahbani was stopped in Tehran, Iran. Rahbani was
summoned to court for inquiry after an Iranian news agency blasted the
classic drama in a review and described it as "vulgar" and
"hedonistic" with symbols of a "sexual slavery cult."
In February 2011, a Serbian production premiered at the National
Theatre in Belgrade.
A 2012 Brian Friel adaptation of the play staged at London's The Old
Vic theatre received mixed reviews, especially for Sheridan Smith in
the lead role.
In 2012, 'Hedda Gabler' was staged at the Royal and Derngate Theatre
in Northampton, directed by Jonathan Munby. The production featured
Emma Hamilton in the title role, with her performance receiving
attention for its "emotional depth and complexity, capturing the
struggle of Ibsen's protagonist."
In 2015, 'Hedda Gabler' was staged at the Taras Shevchenko Dnipro
National Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theatre in Ukraine. The
production was directed by Diana Stein, with Nataliya Tafi in the
title role.
The play was staged in 2015 at Madrid's María Guerrero. The
production, which received mixed reviews, was directed by Eduardo
Vasco and presented a text that was adapted by the Spanish playwright
Yolanda Pallín with Cayetana Guillén Cuervo playing the lead role.
In 2016, Tony Award-winning director Ivo van Hove made his National
Theatre debut in London with a period-less production of the play.
This new version by Patrick Marber featured Ruth Wilson in the title
role and Rafe Spall as Brack.
In 2017, a ballet interpretation of the play premiered at the
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet under the direction of Marit Moum
Aune.
In January 2019, Richmond Shakespeare Society staged the third
production of 'Hedda Gabler' in the Society's history. Hedda was
portrayed by Amanda Adams and Judge Brack by Nigel Cole.
Since May 2019, the play has been staged in the National Theatre,
Warsaw, with Hedda portrayed by .
In February 2023, the play was performed at Mulae Arts Factory
(문래예술공장) in Seoul, South Korea. The director was Song Sun-ho (송선호).
The play was part of the 2024 season of the Stratford Festival.
Mass media adaptations
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The play has been adapted for the screen several times, from the
silent film era onwards, in several languages. The BBC screened a
television production of the play in 1962, with Ingrid Bergman,
Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, and Trevor Howard, while the
Corporation's 'Play of the Month' in 1972 featured Janet Suzman and
Ian McKellen in the two main leads. A version shown on Britain's
commercial ITV network in 1980 featured Diana Rigg in the title role.
Glenda Jackson was nominated for an Academy Award as leading actress
for her role in the British film adaptation 'Hedda' (1975) directed by
Trevor Nunn. A version was produced for Australian television in 1961.
An American film version released in 2004 relocated the story to a
community of young academics in Washington state.
An adaptation (by Brian Friel) of the 2012 Old Vic production was the
first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4 on 9 March 2013.
In 2014, Matthew John also adapted Hedda Gabler starring Rita Ramnani,
David R. Butler, and Samantha E. Hunt.
Andreas Kleinert adapted the story to early 21st century Germany in
his 2016 film 'Hedda', starring Susanne Wolff and Godehard Giese.
'Hedda', directed by Nia DaCosta and starring Tessa Thompson in the
title role, was released in 2025.
Alternative productions, tribute, and parody
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The 1998 play 'The Summer in Gossensass' by María Irene Fornés
presents a fictionalized account of Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea's
efforts to stage the first London production of 'Hedda Gabler' in
1891.
In the Netflix animated show, 'Bojack Horseman', an episode features
the main character putting on a stage production while in prison with
inmates playing the roles.
An operatic adaptation of the play has been produced by Shanghai's
Hangzhou XiaoBaiHua Yue Opera House.
An adaptation with a lesbian relationship was staged in Philadelphia
in 2009 by the Mauckingbird Theatre Company.
A production at Princeton University's Lewis Center for the Arts
featured a male actor, Sean Peter Drohan, in the title role.
Philip Kan Gotanda 'loosely' adapted 'Hedda Gabler' into his 2002
play, 'The Wind Cries Mary'.
A prostitute in the feature film 'Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull
Story' is named Hedda Gobbler.
The 2009 album 'Until the Earth Begins to Part' by Scottish folk
indie-rock band Broken Records features a song, "If Eilert Løvborg
Wrote A Song, It Would Sound Like This".
John Cale, Welsh musician and founder of American rock band The Velvet
Underground, recorded a song "Hedda Gabler" in 1976, included
originally on the 1977 EP 'Animal Justice' (now a bonus track on the
CD of the album 'Sabotage'). He performed the song live in 1998, with
Siouxsie Sioux, and also in London (5 March 2010) with a band and a 19
piece orchestra in his Paris 1919 tour. The song was covered by the
British neofolk band Sol Invictus for the 1995 compilation 'Im
Blutfeuer' (Cthulhu Records) and later included as a bonus track on
the 2011 reissue of the Sol Invictus album 'In the Rain'.
The Norwegian hard-rock band Black Debbath recorded the song
"Motörhedda Gabler" on their Ibsen-inspired album 'Naar Vi Døde
Rocker' ("When We Dead Rock"). As the title suggests, the song is also
influenced by the British heavy metal band Motörhead.
The original play 'Heddatron' by Elizabeth Meriwether (b. 1981) melds
'Hedda Gabler' with a modern family's search for love despite the
invasion of technology into everyday life.
In the 2013 novel 'Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy' by Helen
Fielding, Bridget tries and fails to write a modernized version of
'Hedda Gabler', which she mistakenly calls "Hedda Gabbler" and
believes to have been written by Anton Chekhov. Bridget intends to
call her version "The Leaves In His Hair" and set it in Queen's Park,
London. Bridget claims to have studied the original play as an
undergraduate at Bangor University.
The play is referenced in a short scene in the musical comedy 'A
Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder', where protagonist Monty Navarro
tricks Lady Salome D'Ysquith Pumphrey, a terrible actress ahead of him
in royal lineage, into shooting herself with real bullets at the end
of 'Hedda Gabler' to ascend to earldom.
In the 2025 film 'Babygirl', the husband of the protagonist is staging
a production of 'Hedda Gabler', and his comment to his wife that the
play is "not about desire, it's about suicide" suggests that he has
also misunderstood his wife's secret desires.
In the 2025 film 'Hedda', the character Eilert Lövborg was
gender-switched to Eileen Lovborg, and the story was set in England in
the mid-1950s.
Awards and nominations
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;Awards
* 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival
* 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival
;Nominations
* 2002: Tony Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Play for Kate
Burton
* 2005 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival
See also
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* Chekhov's gun
* 'Hedda Gabler' filmography
External links
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*
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* [
http://www.novelguide.com/Hedda-Gabler/index.html Novelguide:
'Hedda Gabler']
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Original Article:
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