Act II
Continue to read the stage directions carefully; the details are often
significant. In this act, the piano has been moved into the inner room,
which increasingly becomes Hedda's space. It reflects her self-containment
and her separateness.
General Gabler's portrait keeps him present throughout the play,
as do the guns and Hedda's insistence on being his daughter rather than Tesman's
wife. Does the General symbolize the aristocratic social class which shaped
Hedda and dominates her still? As Act I established, class differences are
a crucial element in this play.
If you took Core Studies 3 or 4, you are familiar with the history
of the rise of the bourgeoisie (middle class) and the decline of the aristocracy
politically and economically, if not socially. You probably also discussed
the hostility and conflicts among the classes, which Marx called class warfare.
In a sense, class warfare has taken the form of Hedda's resisting
the Tesmans' intrusions and claims on her. Even though she rebuffs them,
she remains for the Tesmans an admired, superior being. Would it be accurate
to say that she is a valuable possession who enhances their status and sense
of self-worth and achievement?
Pages 25-29
Act II begins with General Gabler's guns, with which Act I ended. What
is the difference between Tesman's reaction to Hedda's merely talking about
shooting the guns and Brack's reaction to actually being shot at? Does Brack
take her seriously? His taking her gun allows him to look at it closely;
his familiarity with the appearance of the gun is important later. His taking
control of her and the situation foreshadows later events.
Brack reveals another aspect of himself. Under the cover of family
friend, he wants to have an affair with Hedda. Hedda's reference to his coming
the "back way" refers not only to his using the back entrance to the house
but to his being sneaky and underhanded. Though Hedda rejects his sexual
overtures, she is willing to engage in the titillation of a flirtation with
sexual undercurrents and no physical involvement. Hedda enjoys Brack's company;
she engages in a verbal duel with him, even jokes with him ("jestingly,"
p. 28) and laughs (p. 27) for the first time in the play. Her rejecting
Brack has caused her to be called frigid or sexually repressed. Is she?
Under her cold manner and eyes, is there passion, intense in not having
an outlet? or is there only more ice? If she is repressed, what kinds of
feelings are being suppressed--love, lust, rage, frustration, fear, etc.?
Is it possible that some of her unexpressed feelings come out in hostile statements
and actions, like her deliberate insult regarding Miss Tesman's hat?
The sexual play between Brack and Hedda starts subtly. At the beginning
of their conversation, he bends "a little forward" and she withdraws, "leaning
further back in the sofa" (p. 26). Then there is the little tug of war over
the use of "night" vs. "everlasting" (p. 27). Hedda rejects Brack's referring
to "night" with its remote suggestion of sexual intimacy with Tesman (Hedda
continues to be quick at picking up sexual implications). Then in the conversation
she forgets and uses the term "night" herself, since it is a natural way
of phrasing the idea. Brack immediately turns her previous objection against
her and scores a point in their verbal game or struggle for dominance.
Using the analogy of riding on a railway carriage, Brack propositions
her by suggesting, "the passengers jump out and move about a little" (he means,
Hedda should jump out of her marriage). She emphatically rejects any sexual
relationship, "I never jump out" (p. 28). He makes a counter offer of flirtation,
"suppose a third person were to jump in and join the couple"; she accepts
this relationship, "Yes, that would be a relief indeed" (p. 29). Tesman
enters to the line, "The triangle is completed." Brack accepts her terms--for
now. Hedda feels in control of the triangle and Brack. The alliance which
Hedda and Brack have just cemented is seen by the audience when they "exchange
a confidential smile," but George sees nothing.
This scene answers the question almost every reader of this play
asks, why did Hedda Gabler ever marry George Tesman? Hedda states the reasons
bluntly--she was getting older, no one else asked, and, as we already know,
she could not maintain the lifestyle she enjoyed as General Gabler's daughter.
In other words, she sold herself ("he was bent, at all hazards, on being
allowed to provide for me," p. 28). Compensating for George's lack of social
status was her expectation that he would attain, as Brack expresses it, "the
highest achievement" (p.28). A little later in this act, her hopes that
Tesman might achieve political success are squelched by Brack, for Tesman
has neither the talents nor the wealth to succeed in politics. She did not
accept Tesman for personal reasons, as she neither likes nor respects Tesman;
her question makes this clear, "And I don't see anything absolutely ridiculous
about him.--Do you?" (p. 28). She implies that Tesman is ridiculous though
not absolutely or unacceptably ridiculous.
How narrow her view of the world is and how limited her values are
emerge clearly in her conversation with Brack. Though she has been home
less than a day, she is bored because "our set are still out of town"
(p. 26). [I added italics to the quotations in this paragraph to emphasize
how restricted Hedda's interests are.] Lacking the resources to occupy herself
in a productive or satisfying way, she shoots her father's pistol at nothing,
with no real purpose. Although she spent nearly six months traveling on
her honeymoon, she could not enjoy the culture and learning of any country
they visited. She was bored, "To go for six whole months without meeting
a soul that knew anything of our circle, or could talk about the things
we are interested in" (p. 27). Unlike Thea, she is uninterested
in exploring the unfamiliar and in expanding her knowledge and understanding.
Intellectually, culturally, and spiritually Hedda is barren or sterile.
Pages 29-33
George praises Lovborg's book and confirms Thea's influence, "He never wrote
like that before" (p. 29). Because Tesman is a scholar himself, his praise
establishes Lovborg's abilities for the audience. Unlike Thea, Hedda has
no interest in Eilert's book. She wants vicarious experience from Lovborg,
not enlightenment. This is yet one more way that Thea serves as a foil for
Hedda.
Tesman's concern about his Aunt Rina's ill health may not be the
real or, perhaps, the only cause of Hedda's outburst, "Oh, those everlasting
aunts!" (p. 30). It pushes away George's reference to her gaining weight,
i.e., to her pregnancy. Not once in this play has Hedda been able to acknowledge
her pregnancy explicitly, and references to it anger her. Hedda rejects
the roles expected of women: she is the dominant partner in her marriage,
she has no use for love, "that sickening word" (p. 27), and she has "no turn"
for motherhood (p. 32). It has been suggested that Hedda is seeking an outlet
for her life, for a freedom of expression and being, which neither her class
in particular nor her society in general allows women. Do you see evidence
to support this theory? What else might be motivating her behavior?
Pages 33-40
Does Eilert Lovborg's appearance reflect the dissipated life he has led?
what about the red patches on his cheeks? His new suit suggests his recent
conversion to respectability. He approaches Hedda hesitantly, "Will you
too shake hands with me, Mrs. Tesman?" (p. 34). What in his past behavior
in general or in their relationship in particular might make him hesitant
in speaking to her?
The differences between Tesman and Lovborg become clearer. Lovborg
is an artist--creative, filled with the life force, and lacking in control.
His next book will express his "true self" (p. 34); it projects into the
future, which has to be lived. In contrast, Tesman is, as Hedda called him,
a specialist. His planned work on the domestic arts of the Middle Ages in
the Middle East is narrow, safe, and irrelevant; the past is dead, and the
Middle East is certainly remote from Norway. Nothing about his project expresses
individuality and a "self." Lovborg took as his topic for the book which
has been published, the "march of civilization in broad outline" (p. 13).
Lovborg assures Tesman that he does not plan to compete for the professorship
and will not publish his book until Tesman has been appointed to the professorship.
Lovborg cares not for position but "the moral victory." Tesman, on the
other hand, cares for the position and the money. He jubilantly exclaims
to Hedda that Lovborg won't "stand in our way" (p. 36). Hedda rejects
the "our" which associates her and Tesman; as she speaks these words, she
moves towards the inner room, a visual expression of her separateness.
Brack and Tesman withdraw into the inner room, leaving Lovborg and
Hedda alone. Their conversation, conducted with Tesman in possible earshot,
reveals their previous intimacy. Lovborg insists on calling and referring
to her as Hedda Gabler and addressing her with the familiar form of
"you"; she squashes these expressions of closeness, "What? I can't allow
this!" (p. 37). At the same time that she rejects these expressions of closeness,
she continues their former intimacy by discussing the past and her feelings.
She acknowledges to yet another man that she does not love her husband while
warning that she will not "hear of any sort of unfaithfulness!" (p. 38).
She evades Lovborg's question whether she felt any love, even just a spark,
for him. Is her response calculated to discourage Lovborg and end their
past relationship or to keep him interested in her, to keep him hooked?
Does Hedda project a sexual attraction, since all three men in this play
are interested in her sexually?
Her conversation with Lovborg also reveals her skill at hiding socially
unacceptable interests under socially correct behavior. When he visited
her in the past, they discussed his sexual life and his wild drinking sprees
while pretending to read the newspaper; General Gabler, representing society's
restrictions on young ladies, dozed nearby. In this scene, they pretend
to look at the photograph album while conducting a highly improper conversation.
In fact, secrecy itself appeals to Hedda and gives her pleasure, "I think
there was really something beautiful, something fascinating--something daring--in--in
that secret intimacy--that comradeship which no living creature so much as
dreamed of" (p. 38). Hedda was able to fulfill safely desires which were
forbidden to respectable women. She vicariously gained sexual knowledge
without any damage to her reputation or loss of control over her life, and
she is able to break society's rules and express, however indirectly, her
essential self.
Lovborg makes conventional assumptions about Hedda's interest in
his wild life, that she loved him and that she wanted to "save" him. But
Hedda has contempt for the "reclaimed" or socially conforming Lovborg and
immediately lets him know her motive, the desire of a young woman to peep
into the world of male experience "which she is forbidden to know anything
about" (p. 39). Then Hedda hedges, by saying this was "partly" her motive.
Hedda is reluctant to be straightforward; she makes partial statements or
partially retracts statements. For instance, her questions about Lovborg's
life were asked "in roundabout terms" (p. 39). Thus, she consistently holds
back or hides part of herself. This trait may be one reason why she seems
contradictory and has puzzled so many audiences and readers.
Pages 39 and 40 are worth studying closely, because they give us
insight into Hedda's motives and desires.
Lovborg twice attributes to her a passionate desire to know life,
"the thirst of life" (p. 39) and "your craving for life" (p.40). This thought
stimulates Lovborg's imagination; it is a passion he knows and has lived without
restraints. But Hedda is ambivalent about experiencing life. In this conversation,
she warns him, "Take care! Believe nothing of the sort!" (p. 40). In their
past intimacy, Lovborg, encouraged by her questions, asked her to have sex;
she responded violently, warning him off with General Gabler's pistols.
Why was she so threatened? Did she fear sex? losing her status in society?
losing control of their relationship and being reduced to a mere love object?
Or did she fear involvement with life, of being overwhelmed by experience
and passion and losing her essential self? If she had an affair, would she
lose what sense of freedom and/or control she had? Other explanations are
certainly possible; my questions are meant to stimulate your thinking about
Hedda's response, not to limit you to these choices.
According to Hedda, her behavior is partly determined by her "dread
of scandal" (p. 40). You have seen already evidence of her conventionality
and conformity to society's rules. In the Aunt Juliana hat incident, she
exclaims, "But what an idea, to pitch her bonnet about in the drawing-room!
No one does that sort of thing" (p. 10). Her response to Thea's leaving
her husband focuses on the public perception and scandal, "to take flight
so openly" and "But what do you think people will say of you, Thea?" (p.
18). Both Lovborg and Hedda agree that she is a coward. As Ibsen noted,
"Hedda is fundamentally conventional," and one form her conventionality takes
is cowardice, her avoiding the possibility of scandal.
Then Hedda confesses that she committed a worse cowardice that evening,
without identifying it. This leaves Lovborg--and the audience-- to assume
her cowardice was not having an affair with him. This implication has caused
many to see her as sexually frigid, for she refuses to sleep with Brack and
with Lovborg, both of whom she is apparently attracted to. What do you think
she means with the reference to her cowardice? Is it evidence of sexual frigidity?
Ibsen writes of Hedda, "She really wants to live the whole life of
a man. But then come her reservations. Things inherited and acquired."
By "things inherited and acquired," Ibsen means the values, beliefs, and
behavior patterns expected of General Gabler's daughter, i.e., she is a member
of the aristocracy and the daughter of a man with high status in his community.
These values, beliefs, and behavior patterns were imposed on her by society
("inherited"), and they were internalized or accepted by her ("acquired").
What does "to live the whole life of a man" mean? Do you think this accurately
describes Hedda?
The last point I want to make about this conversation involves Thea.
Hedda naturally wants to know whether he has told Thea anything about their
relationship. Lovborg responds rather brutally, "She is too stupid to understand
anything of that sort" (p. 40). By "stupid," he means naive, and this raises
another contrast between the two women, Hedda with her quickness to see sexual
undercurrents and Thea with her blindness.
Pages 40-45
When Thea enters, Hedda greets Thea warmly, encouragingly, even though
earlier she forgot that Thea was coming (p. 38). Hedda uses Thea's good will
to manipulate Thea into sitting next to her on the sofa, rather than in a
chair by Lovborg; Lovborg then sits on the other side of Hedda. This seating
arrangement places her in the center; the other two have to talk to her or
through her. She functions as a go-between and vicariously participates
in the relationship of Lovborg and Thea.
This conversation has a level hidden from Thea; Lovborg and Hedda
use Thea to talk to each other. Hedda's using Thea as an object is reflected
in her stroking Thea's hair. To Lovborg's question "Is not she lovely to
look at?" Hedda replies with a question suggesting that their relationship
was sexual. Lovborg's praise of his true comradeship with Thea is really
a put-down of Hedda; it implies that his relationship with Hedda was of a
lesser quality. He even uses the term "comrade" for Thea, a term which he
used to describe his relationship with Hedda. Lovborg's referring
to Thea's courage is a clear attack on Hedda; when Hedda murmurs, "If one
only had that!" (40), she means "If I only had courage!"
What are Lovborg's feelings for Hedda and Thea? The conventional
answer to this question would be that only one of the women is his real or
true love, because an individual can truly love only one person. Ibsen,
however, did not hold this view. He jotted down this fragment, "The traditional
error that one man is made for one woman." In another note, Ibsen applies
this generalization explicitly to Lovborg,
Ejlert Lovborg is a double nature. It is a fiction that
one only loves one person. He loves two--or more--(speaking frivolously)
by turns. But how to explain his own situation. Mrs. Elfsted, who forces
him into respectability, runs away from her husband. Hedda, who eggs him
on beyond the limits, flinches from the thought of scandal.
(Note how ironically Ibsen describes the women and how Thea serves as
a foil for Hedda.) What do you think his feelings are for the two women?
There is another undercurrent in this conversation. Hedda is competing
with Thea for control over Lovborg. When Lovborg refuses Hedda's offer of
a drink and Thea supports his not drinking, Hedda laughs, "Then I, poor creature,
have no sort of power over you?" (p. 41). If he drinks, Hedda would have
evidence of her power over him and have defeated Thea. To achieve this
end, she reveals Thea's lack of trust in her comrade; angry and disillusioned,
Lovborg drinks and ironically toasts Thea.
Hedda explicitly acknowledges her desire, "I want for once in my
life to have power to mould a human destiny." The destiny she wants to mold
is Eilert's. Ibsen several times calls Hedda's desire demonic, "The demonic
thing about Hedda is that she wants to exert an influence over another person."
His use of "demonic," with its powerful negative meanings, indicates how
strongly Ibsen feels about Hedda's behavior in this matter. The distinction
must be kept in mind that he is not necessarily calling Hedda demonic, just
one aspect of her character.
Lovborg shows signs of excess once he starts drinking; he stops because
of Hedda not his own self-control. Although he acknowledges Thea as his
inspiration, he ignores her pleas not to go to Brack's all-male party.
Hedda shows a tendency to violence; she pinches Thea's arm and
threatens to burn Thea's hair, behavior which prepares for subsequent actions.
Her warnings to Thea not to reveal her feelings for Lovborg show her conventionality,
just as her wanting to be present at Brack's party "unseen" shows her desire
for forbidden knowledge and her liking of secrecy (p. 44).
Hedda's conversation with Thea introduces the vine-leaves, a major
symbol which expresses her desire for freedom. Hedda has idealized Lovborg's
drinking and sexual excesses into a rejection of society's restrictions and
so they become for her an expression of freedom. His overindulgence seems
to her an act of courage, which she equates with beauty. The vine-leaves
and the riotous behavior connect this image to Dionysus
or Bacchus. Ibsen was interested in myth, drew on Scandinavian myth
in several plays, and certainly knew about Dionysus/Bacchus and the association
of vine leaves. The symbol of the vine-leaves, which expresses her highest
aspirations, reveals her lack of culture, intellectual values, and spiritual
depth. Her ideal is shoddy (i.e., trashy) because the reality it refers
to is destructive and futile. Her class has failed her by not providing her
with higher ideals and values. The aristocracy--as can be seen in the lives
of Hedda, Brack, and Lovborg--is morally corrupt and spiritually bankrupt.
The values of the bourgeoisie, as represented by the Tesmans, promote decent
enough behavior but do not allow for higher aspirations; this class, too,
is spiritually and intellectually lacking.
The connection among the vine-leaves, freedom, and courage is clearly
stated. Hedda expects him to return "fearless." For Hedda, the reformed
Lovborg has lost his love of life, his courage, and his freedom; therefore,
by resuming his former lifestyle, "he will have regained control over himself.
Then he will be a free man all his days" (p. 44).
Ibsen Syllabus
F, March 30, Online class
***Mandatory*** |
Ibsen, Online overview
Hedda Gabler, Act I
Caucus: To
read and to send postings
**Supplemental Reading**
The Problem Play
The New Woman
Hedda Gabler
as Tragedy |
| M, April 2 |
Hedda Gabler, Act II |
| W, April 4 |
Hedda Gabler, Act III |
F, April 6 Online class
***Mandatory*** |
Hedda Gabler, Act IV
The Other
Caucus: To
read and to send postings |
Ibsen Page || Core
Studies 6 Page || Melani Home Page
|
