HEDDA GABLER: FEMINISM

What is “Feminism”.
Feminism is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as;

“The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”.

The term “Feminism” was derived from the Latin word “Femmina” meaning
“woman” and was first used with regard to the issues of equality and women’s right
movement. It is the theory of the political, economical and social equality, of the sexes
that organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.

“Feminism may be called as the promotion of the women’s rights on the behalf of
political, social and economical equality to men”.

A Feminist Play:
Hedda Gabler takes place in Norway in the late 1800s. Women are restricted
by Victorian values and prevented from having any real lives of their own. As such,
they exist only in relation to men. A woman could be a daughter, a sister, a mother
and a wife; she had no identity of herself.

The women in this play all seeks to solve one fundamental problem what to do
with their live. At the time Ibsen wrote the play, the term “New Woman” had been
emerged to describe;

“Women who were pushing against the limits which society imposed on them”.

Here, the play “Hedda Gabler” is being discussed which is a renowned feminist
play.. however, the leading character, Hedda is in no respect feminine. She lacks the
sacrificing and angelic womanly qualities. We find her acting as the manipulator of
fates. She wants to be the powerful one in order to shape the destinies of people. This
shows that unlike a delicate, shy female; she wishes to dominate others. She is hideous
in her aims.

“I want to feel that I control a human destiny”. (Hedda)

Hedda is so much heartless that she negates the most loving feelings of
womanhood i.e. her pregnancy. She calls it “most solemn responsibility”. Mostly
women find relief in their child, but Hedda exclaims;

“I have no talent for such things, Judge, I won’t have responsibilities”.

 Hedda Gabler crystallizes and supports some of the central feminie issues in
the nineteenth century. It highlights the reality of marriages that appears to be
conventional happy marriages, but is not. Mrs. Elvsted poor and miserable life drives
her to marry an older man; on the other hand, Hedda believes that marriage will give
her a sense of worth and she accepted Tesman’s proposal because she says;

“I had simply danced myself out…My time was up”.

The play reveals the two mages of women of that time; Hedda is presented as a
“monster woman” who acts wildly and conventionally; whereas, Mrs. Elvsted presents
the conventional “angel woman” who sacrifices her life for others’sake.

Marriage is one of the main themes in the play that requires a feminist
interpretation. Since one of the social conventions states that marriage is women’s
ultimate goal, the feminist task then is to reject this notion by highlighting the
unhappy marriages. Ibsen in this play presents two images of marriage; the first
marries for convenience and the other for a meaningful life.

The two women were driven to marry the men whom they don’t love because
they believed that this marriage will improve their lives. Unfortunately, these
marriages turn to be like prisons that drive Mrs. Elvsted to fall in love with Loevborg
and Hedda to commit suicide.

Elvsted:
Mrs. Elvsted who appears as a conventional wife, realized that her marriage is
a mistake. She tells Hedda that her poor circumstances drove her to marry a man who
is older than her. She is treated as a device that helps others, especially men, to get
what they want, in return, she never waits for any rewards and her generosity is
simply ignored.

When manuscript is lost, Mrs. Elvsted does not question Loevborg about the
manuscript, she gathers herself again and recharges her power to rewrite the
manuscript. She feels pleasure when she senses how she is a vital person with an
ability to change others’ lives for the better. This is clear when she proudly declares to
Hedda that Loevborg;

“Never wrote anything without my assistance”.

 In fact, Mrs. Elvsted breaks the social norm that considers women as
“marginalized” members of the society. She proves that she is not a wife who is doing
the house work only; but, she is a woman who has the ability to improve the lives of
others.

Hedda:
On the other hand, Hedda represents the dark image of women in literature,
who act wildly and unnaturally, or show sign of rebellion against their gender role.
She rejects the role that is dedicated to women. She has no turn for motherhood and
she is violent towards others.

Hedda believed that marriage would give her a better life. She wants to escape
from her depressed and miserable life and she hopes that marriage would add a new
meaning to her life. Unfortunately, she finds life with Tesman dull and boring and she
feels both emotionally and empty spiritually towards him.

In her confidential conversation with Brack, she expresses her boredom for
marital life.

“Oh dear Judge, I’ve been so desperately bored”.

In the end, Hedda realizes that her hopes will never materialize during her
marriage life and her ambitions will not be fulfilled even through her husband. She
has no turn for motherhood and she is violent towards others.

In fact, the “monster woman” is a title that is given to any woman who shows
signs of rejections to her conventional role and as obedient wife or a responsible
mother. She couldn’t adopt herself to her husband’s lifestyle but she’s afraid to leave
that home because;

“Hedda fears scandals above all”.

It is obvious Hedda’s destructive reaction towards others and her fear of

scandal reveal how General Gabler raised her daughter. In the introduction of the play,
Ibsen writes:

“The title of the play is Hedda Gabler. My intention is giving it this name was to
indicate that Hedda as personality is to be regarded rather as her father’s daughter than
her husband’s wife. On the feminist issues that are dealt within Ibsen’s social play is
the lack of freedom that limits women to domestic life.