How to write a paper 2

1) Thesis statement= a paragraph explaining both plays, including similarities and

differences which fit the question.
e.g In both Tennessee Williams’ “A streetcar named Desire” and Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda
Gabler” both have male and female characters featured to reflect the role of men and women
and presents a grim message on gender expectations in society. Characters that are
stereotypical of their genders are featured, like Stanley in “A streetcar named desire” who
represents a dominant, masculine, aggressive character and Mrs. Tesman in “Hedda Gabler”
who embodies the Victorian characteristics and conventions of traditional method. The
protagonists in both plays feature leading ladies who are problematic and is excluded from
society, whilst Hedda rejects female roles and the only way to escape is to kill herself,
Blanche wants to conform to society and regain her status however is rejected due to the
promiscuous things she has done in her past.

2) A paragraph on one character in Hedda

3) A paragraph on one character from Streetcar
4) A paragraph on one character in Hedda
5) A paragraph on one character from Streetcar
6) Concluding statement

Context
● Victorian era themes- patriarchal and male dominance, respectability and manners e.g.
formal language, expectation of women to be frail, innocent, pure
● The play was heavily criticized by conservative males as they considered the play to be
immoral and people at the time due to social norms and standards, could not believe there
would be a woman like Hedda that exists. ​The character of Hedda reflects Ibsen’s voice
of wanting to break out from social norms through literature. This can be seen as it was
considered “the problem play” and was said to have “violated the assumptions of
traditional literary theory”.
● Ibsen “father of realism”- reflects true nature of society. It changed the conventions of
traditional drama and literature as it heavily discussed social issues.
● Women were expected to get married and stay at home, being seen as fragile and
unintelligent.
● Hedda is emotionally and physically trapped in the house
● Ibsen had active involvement in women’s suffrage movement, fuelling his beliefs on
female rights​ ​ highlights women in the role society dictates them to play

General Themes: ​Power and Dominance​ (Hedda over men and women) , Mrs. Elvsted over
Lovburg to save him from his self-destructiveness, Judge Brack (sexual dominance) over
Hedda, ​Role of men + women in society​, ​Appearance and Manipulation, Life + Death
Symbols + motifs: Manuscript, fire, vine leaves, pistols, name of play, babies,

Hedda
● Violent destructive nature- expresses discontent through manipulating others. She cannot
cope with lack of power
● “General Gabler’s daughter” “never endure thought of being controlled by someone else”
● From a social point of view, the Victorian and Modern times are very different, in
particular the expectations of how married women should behave. Hedda from the
beginning of the play uses harsh language, which contrasts to the way Victorian women
had to behave; they had to be respectful to their husband and is children or family
orientated. Hedda, despite being a woman is presented as being a dominant figure and
displayed no signs of femininity that was expected, and presents conflict with her role in
society. When Tesman commented on her being ​“filled out”, ​she immediately becomes
irritated and says ​“I’m exactly the way I was when I left”​. She does not want people to
know she is pregnant perhaps because it makes her look weak, as in the play she displays
features that are considered masculine. Referring to Hedda’s desire and obsession for
power over another life, she feels trapped having the baby because she has no control
over it. During the Victorian times this was considered unacceptable due to the societal
standards of women, however in modern times it would not be perceived the same way,
as becoming pregnant is not such a strict expectation for women anymore. Although in
the Victorian times as Hedda was breaking the stereotypes and societal rules that she
needed to follow, from a modern perspective she may be perceived as being courageous
and tough.
● Hedda married Tesman due to social context- he was a scholar, reliable, trusting (he
represents the stereotypes of what a Victorian man should be). She despises the concept
of marriage, in particular has no interest in being with someone for the rest of your life-
hates the word ​“love” ​(shields herself from human emotion)
● Despite her rebellious attitude towards the social norms back in the day, she still hates
scandal.
● “It’s a liberation to know that an act of spontaneous courage is yet possible in this
world. An act that has something of unconditional beauty.”=​she thinks of Eijert’s
death as a work of art, a “beautiful act”. ​After Lovborg dies, Hedda is not sad at all. She
keeps asking if Lovborg has died beautifully, shows that Hedda thinks of death more as a
performance than the end of life, and she enjoys the fact that she is the director of this
whole performance. Again, the pistol is used as a symbol of aggressive control, the
control of life and death. ​When she devises the perfect suicide for Eilert, she’s continuing
in this vein – orchestrating the life that she can’t experience herself.
● Hedda has a complicated relationship with violence and aggression as she initiates
conflict yet hates scandal.
● "Now I am burning your child, Thea!". ​Hedda obtains the power she wanted over Elvsted.
Hedda decided to burn the manuscript because it not only saves Tesman’s future, but it
also would destroy the power Mrs. Elvsted had over Lovburg (the manuscript was their
baby), in addition emphasises her resentment towards motherhood. Hedda kills the child
she was unable to bear for Lövborg. The symbol manuscript represents the defiance
against nineteenth century norms. Lövborg and ​Thea Elvsted​’s ​manuscript​ symbolizes
creation, the redemption of the past, and hope for the future. The burning represents
Hedda’s inability to move forward and accept evolution of society, her inability for
societal forces to continue molding her into the woman she should be
● Her ability to influence others has a lot to do with her sexuality and good looks. Because
women can’t seek power through careers or scholarship, Hedda seeks it through
controlling others. ​ ​ ​For once in my life, I want to have power over a human being."
● Rivalrous competition with Mrs. Elvsted “In High School you used to pull my hair and
said you’d burn it off”
● Guns symbolise masculinity but also power: something Hedda desires. By shooting them,
she feels strong and liberated. This breaks the stereotypes of social norms of how woman
should behave and act (big contrast to domestic illustration of women who fears such
kind of weapon). She becomes more dependent on it during the latter half of the play
when she starts to lose control. ​“Well, I shall have one thing at least to kill time with in
the meanwhile… General Gabler's pistols.”. ​Can be literal meaning​ ​ her death, but also
emphasise how bored she is of her life. She feels trapped in her marriage and feels no
excitement. The fact that Hedda enjoys playing with her pistols reveals her destructive
nature and Lovborg becomes the victim of Hedda’s control.
● Hedda’s death can be interpreted both positively and negatively. It can be an indication,
the final chance she got to take control of her own life. She is an intolerant and victim of
intolerance, as her death was the only way to escape in. On the other hand, it could
represent her reckless behaviour (people didn't like she actually did it and was just
playing with her pistols) and shows that her death was just an act of cowardice/escapism
and was not understood. (courage and cowardice= self vs society).
● During the Victorian times all of Hedda’s actions considered unacceptable due to the
societal standards of women​ and is​ ​imprisoned in this patriarchal society
● “People don’t do such things”- ​ironic as despite 2 deaths happening, it was such
unexpected act of the time that people couldn’t believe it. Societal and intuitional forces-
Ibsen’s aims of breaking free from social norms. ​Hedda is unique in her isolated
individualism and her more than unconventional commitment to fulfilling herself by
destroying others. She was bored with her life and wanted to exert an influence on others,
but in the end after doing so much she is still not satisfied with what she does.
● The relationships and affairs she had with the men were a game to her, where she wanted
to win them over, further emphasising her manipulative and controlling nature.
● The product of Mrs. Elvsted and Lovborg's relationship was the manuscript, which
symbolises change, the future and hope. It represents Lovborg's redemption of his
scandalous and controversial past

Tesman
● “I’m​ ​good at Putting things in order”= ​re-affirm Tesman’s personality of having no
imagination or creativity. He is good at organizing and “is in order”, aka cannot think
outside the box.
● Work focused​ ​“It’s such fun to wait for you, Hedda”
● Naïve, does not realize that Hedda is manipulating him
● Not so much family or children orientated “As I gradually add to my collection of books”
● Career driven ​(“I have the best prospect in the world of becoming a professor_)

Miss Tesman
● The stereotypical Victorian female persona can be seen in Mrs. Tesman, where she
devotes her life to caring for her son, and everything in her mind is George, Hedda and
the potential baby they would have. She represents a domestic housewife, and she is
presented that way because such personality traits were typically seen from a woman in
those times. Her kind and selfless nature is evident when she tells Tesman ​“Isn’t it the
only joy I have in this world to help you along your road, my darling” ​where “only joy”
emphasises that she would be willing to give up everything for her son to be happy. Her
obsession of children can further be seen in ​“Haven’t you any… as it were... Any
 prospects of…?”​ where she is questioning her son since they came back from their
honeymoon. She has a deep-seated need for an arrival of a baby.

Lovburg
● Connection with Tesman​: Tesman is uncomfortable- no creativity and imagination-
concrete solid historic evidence in contrast to Lovburg looking at the future (societal
issues and traditional values vs Lovburg breaking Victorian stereotypes).
● Theme of “​Vines in his hair​” (Bacchus)= Hedda doesn’t want to get married because she
didn’t want the realistic marriage- she wanted magical and passionate relationship “Vines
in his hair”- refers to Greek god who was about living merrily and seeking pleasure.
When he returns "​with vine-leaves in his hair​", he will be god-like, elated, happy - or
simply drunk.

Mrs Elvsted
● Hedda immediately finds Mrs. Elvsted suspicious, therefore tries to get her to reveal
details just the two of them. Hedda sparks interest in the word power and hates it when
other women have it. Hedda does not come across as the supportive friend she is trying to
act as, behind her façade is curiosity and interest to learn the details of what’s really
behind Mrs Elvsted’s arrival.
● Hedda and Mrs Elvsted are not stereotypical Victorian women that should be=
Relationship/affair with Lovburg was equals ​“When he wrote anything, we always had to
do it together”​, she helped his work which was not the norms of what a
marriage/relationship would have been at the time. Mrs Elvsted has power over her man,
which Hedda does not like.
● “I shall never go back to him again”- ​Mrs. Elvsted demonstrates courage and control
by leaving husband and step-children, something Hedda seeks as she is trapped in her
marriage.
● The Conflict between Hedda and Mrs. Elvsted mainly stems from their means of
seeking power​. Hedda initiates this conflict, when Mrs. Elvsted arrives to the house and
reveals that she is having an affair with Ejlert Lovborg. Hedda feels trapped in her
marriage with Tesman and struggles to conform to society, examples include her
despising the concept of marriage, refusing to let others know she is pregnant by saying “I
look exactly the way I left” because she feels it shows weakness, and still keeps her
surname “Gabler”. As women at the time could not gain power and status through
professions, Hedda is seen seeking power in a destructive way through manipulating
others. One significant moment is when she orchestrates Lovborg’s death, telling him to
“do it beautifully”. From this act she feels she has gained power because not only does it
hurt Mrs. Elvsted but also because she was the director and gained control over another
human being. Additionally, the pistols, a recurring theme in the play represents
dominance and aggressive control. It is ironic that Hedda keeps her pistol at the desk, as a
desk is usually a place of composition and creation. Hence, Hedda could represent an
author of destruction, whether for herself or for others. Hedda’s usage of violence and
destruction contrasts to Mrs. Elvsted’s way of seeking power, which is through becoming
Lovborg’s source of creative inspiration. Mrs. Elvsted helps Lovborg to write the
manuscript as she says “When he wrote anything, we always had to do it together”. The
manuscript represents Lovborg’s redemption of his scandalous past, on top of that
creation, future, hope towards a new generation and set of social norms.