How Does Hedda Gabler Affect Society

During the 19th Century, the expectations of the manner in which men and women should behave was stringent, especially domestically; men were to be the leaders of the household, while women were restricted to maintaining their beauty, complimenting their husbands, and accepting their perpetual inferiority. Hedda Gabler, however, had trouble accepting this inhibiting social paradigm. At first glance, Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler may seem like a story about a satanic woman whose sole pleasure is making other’s lives miserable; however, when delving deeper into the text, Ibsen’s portrayal of the conflict between an individual’s desires and society’s demands and the impacts of this collision become clear. Due to Hedda’s upbringing, she behaves …show more content…
Although the pressure of society’s expectations ultimately cost Hedda her life, the implications of society’s restraints did not only affect Hedda, but society as a whole. Hedda’s frustration affected all those around her; it caused her husband’s distress, took Eilert Lovborg’s life, and encouraged Brack’s greedy behavior. Hedda’s behavior made her entire community dysfunctional. George focused his whole life on creating a perfect marriage for the unrelenting Hedda who returned his love with mockery and complaints that his “tight little world [she had] stumbled into—[is] what makes [her] life so miserable” (256). Ibsen utilized Hedda’s boredom as a weapon against Eilert when she coaxed him to relapse into alcoholism (268-269). After Eilert had realized the damage he had done, Ibsen drives the reflective effect of society home as Hedda makes Eilert promise her that he will use her pistols “beautifully” when he intends to take his own life (288). Ibsen intentionally involves both of their deaths with suicide to show the boomerang effect of the conflict between an individual and society. Ibsen’s focus on the distress between the mini society of characters and Hedda signifies that if society wants to be morally and ethically sound, then it needs to learn to