Flashcards for Hedda Gabler

Bertha

Bertha is the long-serving maid of the Tesman household, a minor yet atmospherically important character in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1891).

character

Diana

Diana is an offstage yet crucial character in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler — known as the "red-haired singer," she represents a world of pleasure, with her establishment serving as the backdrop for Eilert Lövborg's downfall.

character

Eilert Lövborg

Eilert Lövborg is a brilliant yet self-destructive scholar whose journey through success, failure, and death serves as the moral and dramatic backbone of Hedda Gabler.

character

George Tesman

George Tesman is Hedda Gabler's newlywed husband and represents well-meaning mediocrity throughout the play.

character

Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler is the captivating yet destructive main character of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play.

character

Judge Brack

Judge Brack is a polished, self-assured man who serves as the play's main antagonist and poses the greatest threat to Hedda.

character

Miss Juliana Tesman

Miss Juliana Tesman, affectionately known as "Aunt Julie," is George Tesman's devoted maiden aunt and surrogate mother.

character

Mrs. Thea Elvsted

Mrs. Thea Elvsted is a former schoolmate of Hedda's who arrives in Christiania after escaping her loveless marriage to Sheriff Elvsted, motivated entirely by her devotion to the writer Eilert Lövborg.

character

“I am in your power none the less. Subject to your will and your demands. A slave, a slave then!”

This anguished outburst comes from Hedda Gabler, the main character in Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play.

Hedda Gabler · Act IV

“I want to live, Hedda! I want to live!”

This desperate cry is delivered by Eilert Lövborg to Hedda Gabler in Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler (1891).

Eilert Lövborg

“You have killed something in me.”

This powerful line is delivered by Hedda Gabler to Judge Brack toward the end of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler.

Hedda Gabler (Hedda Tesman) · Act IV

“I want for once in my life to have power to mould a human destiny.”

This declaration is made by Hedda Gabler, the main character in Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler.

Hedda Gabler

“Good God! — one doesn't do such things.”

This line is delivered by Hedda Gabler toward the end of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler, just after she has shot herself offstage — or, in some interpretations, it represents the shocked response of Judge Brack upon finding her lifeless body.

Judge Brack · Act IV

“For once in my life I want the power to shape a human fate.”

This line is spoken by Hedda Gabler, the main character in Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play of the same name, during her manipulative interactions with Eilert Lövborg.

Hedda Gabler (Hedda Tesman)

“I have such a dread of open spaces.”

This line is spoken by Hedda Gabler, the main character in Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play of the same name.

Hedda Gabler (Hedda Tesman)

“It's not that I'm afraid of scandal. I'm afraid of being in someone's power.”

This line is delivered by Hedda Gabler, the main character in Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler.

Hedda Gabler

“Think of it — with vine leaves in his hair.”

This line is delivered by Hedda Gabler to Judge Brack (and also appears in her discussions about Eilert Lövborg) in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1891).

Hedda Gabler

“People don't do such things.”

This devastating closing line is delivered by Judge Brack at the end of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1891), after he discovers that Hedda has taken her own life.

Judge Brack · Act IV

“Now I am burning your child, Thea! Burning it, curly-locks!”

This chilling line is delivered by Hedda Gabler near the end of Act III in Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler (1891), as she feeds Eilert Lövborg's manuscript — the collaborative "child" of him and Thea Elvsted — page by page into the stove.

Hedda Gabler

Eilert's Manuscript

In Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Eilert Lövborg's manuscript—referred to as "the child" created by him and Thea Elvsted—represents the essence of creativity, real human connections, and the chance to live outside societal norms.

General Gabler's Pistols

In Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, General Gabler's pistols reflect Hedda's aristocratic background, her intense craving for power, and the only escape she has in a stifling bourgeois society.

Portrait of General Gabler

In Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, the portrait of General Gabler hanging in the Tesman drawing room highlights Hedda's struggle between two conflicting worlds.

The Stove

In Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, the large, dark, iron stove in the Tesman drawing room symbolizes Hedda's destructive will and her desperate craving for power in a world that denies her the ability to act.

Vine Leaves in the Hair

In Hedda Gabler, the vine leaves in Hedda's hair represent a Dionysian ideal of bold, beautiful self-destruction—a way of living that breaks free from the limits of middle-class respectability.

Symbolism

Objects in Hedda Gabler hold meanings that extend well beyond their physical roles.

Dramatic Monologue

Although Hedda Gabler is a complete play, Hedda's lengthy speeches act as dramatic monologues that unveil a side of her psychology she can't openly share.

Irony

Irony runs deep throughout the play.

Imagery

Ibsen creates a rich visual and sensory environment that highlights Hedda's sense of entrapment.

Metaphor

Hedda's most revealing speech transforms her marriage and social status into a metaphor for imprisonment.

Juxtaposition

Ibsen structures the play through sharp contrasts in character and values.

Pathetic Fallacy

Ibsen skillfully uses the physical environment to reflect Hedda's inner turmoil through the technique of pathetic fallacy.

Extended Metaphor

The image of vine leaves serves as a recurring metaphor throughout the play.

Motif

The motif of boredom — kedsommelighed in Ibsen's Norwegian — runs throughout the play, both as Hedda's clear complaint and the underlying condition of her life.

Aporia

The play maintains a real sense of confusion—an irreconcilable uncertainty—about Hedda's inner life and moral standing.

Conceit

Hedda sees herself as a figure of aristocratic, almost mythical distinction, trapped in a middle-class marriage.

Volta

Though Hedda Gabler is a prose drama instead of poetry, Ibsen crafts pivotal turns that shift the play's direction.

dread

A deep, heavy feeling of fear or anxiety about something that is coming, stronger than ordinary worry and hard to shake off.

noun · Chapter 1

mould

To shape or influence someone's life, character, or fate according to your own will, as a sculptor shapes clay.

verb · Chapter 2

destiny

The course of a person's life, especially when seen as something that can be directed or controlled by another's power.

noun · Chapter 2

vine-leaves

Leaves of the grapevine, here used as a symbol of wild, Dionysian freedom and poetic glory, worn in the hair like a classical wreath.

noun · Chapter 2

flushed

Having a red, heated face from excitement, drink, or strong emotion; glowing with passionate energy.

adjective · Chapter 2

fearless

Completely without fear; bold and reckless in a way Hedda finds thrilling and romantic rather than merely brave.

adjective · Chapter 2

courage

Here, the inner strength to face a hard or painful life without flinching, used ironically to contrast with Hedda's desire for a dramatic exit.

noun · Chapter 3

burning

Destroying by fire; used here both literally, as Hedda sets the manuscript alight, and as a charged, almost ritual act of destruction.

verb · Chapter 3

manuscript

A handwritten or typed document that has not yet been published; here, Lövborg's groundbreaking new book, which exists as a unique, irreplaceable copy.

noun · Chapter 3

slave

A person completely under another's control, with no freedom to act or refuse; used here to describe Hedda's helpless submission to Brack's blackmail.

noun · Chapter 4

subject to

Completely under the authority or control of someone else, with no power to resist their wishes or demands.

phrase · Chapter 4

blackmail

The act of threatening to reveal damaging information about someone unless they do what you want; here, Brack's weapon over Hedda.

noun · Chapter 4

pistols

Small handguns, here a pair inherited from Hedda's father the General, which she uses for target practice and ultimately as instruments of death.

noun · Chapter 2

villa

A large, fashionable detached house; here, the expensive residence the Tesmans have rented, which strains their budget and signals social ambition.

noun · Chapter 1

professorship

A permanent academic position at a university, carrying salary, status, and security; the post George Tesman is anxiously waiting to be awarded.

noun · Chapter 1

aristocratic

Belonging to or characteristic of the highest social class, born into privilege and accustomed to a life of elegance and command.

adjective · Chapter 1

suitor

A man who courts or pursues a woman romantically with the intention of winning her affection or hand in marriage.

noun · Chapter 1

stifled

Suppressed or suffocated; feeling trapped and unable to breathe freely, whether from boredom, social constraint, or a lack of personal freedom.

verb · Chapter 1

mediocrity

The state of being ordinary, dull, and second-rate; the dreary, unremarkable life that Hedda finds unbearable and desperately wants to escape.

noun · Chapter 4

crepe

A thin, dull black fabric traditionally hung in a house as a sign of mourning after a death in the family.

noun · Chapter 4

condolences

Formal expressions of sympathy offered to someone who has suffered a bereavement or loss, typically at a death.

noun · Chapter 4

succumbs

Gives in to a temptation or weakness after struggling to resist it; here, Lövborg falls back into drinking despite his efforts to stay sober.

verb · Chapter 2

groundbreaking

Completely new and original in a way that changes how people think; used to describe Lövborg's manuscript as a work that could outshine all rivals.

adjective

flirtation

Playful, suggestive behaviour that hints at romantic or sexual interest without making a direct declaration; here, the charged game Hedda and Brack play.

noun · Chapter 2

distraught

Deeply upset and agitated, almost out of one's mind with distress or grief; here describing Lövborg after he has lost the manuscript.

adjective · Chapter 3