Résumé
Résumé de Hedda Gabler
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love tight, character-driven drama, quiet tension and struggles over freedom and control, and anyone who wants to understand a play that actors still fight to perform.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Hedda Gabler is a play in four acts by the Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. It was first printed in 1890 and staged in Munich in early 1891. It takes place in a single drawing room in Christiania, now Oslo, over little more than a day. The play is named for its heroine by her maiden name, not her married one. That choice tells you how she sees herself.
Hedda is the daughter of a famous general. She has just come home from a long honeymoon with a gentle, hardworking scholar named Jørgen Tesman. She is bored, proud and afraid of scandal, and she cannot say what she wants. Around her gather an old admirer, a rival scholar and a family friend who likes to hold the strings. In this summary you will meet them, follow the first turns of the plot and see what Ibsen is doing with them. Let us begin with the house where it all happens.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A honeymoon ends in a house she dislikesFree
- 2Visitors from the past unsettle the house
- 3Hedda craves power over another life
- 4Her father's pistols and her fear of scandal
- 5What the play is really about
- 6How Ibsen tells it
Point clé 1 sur 6
A honeymoon ends in a house she dislikes
The play opens in the morning in the Tesmans' new villa. Aunt Julle, Tesman's kindly aunt, calls early, eager to see the young couple home. She is greeted by Berta, the old servant who once worked for the Tesman family and now serves in this house. The rooms are large and handsome, and a portrait of General Gabler hangs in the inner room.
Tesman arrives and is delighted with everything. He has spent the honeymoon months digging in libraries and archives for his research on the domestic industry of medieval Brabant. He is sure that a professorship at the university is waiting for him. On the strength of that hope, he has bought this house with borrowed money.
Hedda comes in late, cool and tired, and we see the gap between husband and wife at once. She teases Aunt Julle by pretending that a new hat belongs to the servant, and the old woman is hurt. She complains about the light, about the flowers and about the whole idea of being at home. Tesman laughs it off, because he cannot imagine that his wife is unhappy.
Ibsen uses this first scene to show a marriage built on a misunderstanding. Tesman thinks he has won a splendid woman, and Hedda thinks she has settled for safety. Money matters here too, because the house and Hedda's taste are costly. From the start, she is trapped in a comfortable cage she chose herself.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Hedda Gabler
- A general's proud daughter, Hedda has recently married Jørgen Tesman but finds their comfortable domestic life stifling.
- Jørgen Tesman
- Hedda's kindly, hardworking husband is a scholar hoping for a professorship and competing professionally with Eilert Løvborg.
- Eilert Løvborg
- Tesman's gifted scholarly rival has a troubled past and draws strength from his close relationship with Thea Elvsted.
- Thea Elvsted
- Hedda's former schoolfellow has left her husband and helped Løvborg recover his purpose through their intellectual partnership.
- Judge Brack
- A worldly family friend, Brack seeks intimacy with Hedda and enjoys exercising influence over those around him.
- Aunt Julle
- Tesman's affectionate aunt helped raise him and warmly welcomes his marriage and return from the honeymoon.
- Berta
- The Tesman family's loyal servant now works in the newlyweds' house and tries to satisfy Hedda's expectations.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 31,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Hedda Gabler
What is Hedda Gabler about?
It follows Hedda, a newly married general's daughter, who is bored and trapped in a respectable marriage. When an old admirer and his rival arrive, her need for control and her fear of scandal begin to shape events.
Why is the play called Hedda Gabler and not Hedda Tesman?
Gabler is her maiden name, her father's name. Ibsen said he wanted to show her as her father's daughter rather than as her husband's wife, which fits her pride and her sense of who she really is.
What do the pistols mean in Hedda Gabler?
The pistols belonged to her father, General Gabler. They stand for his world, for danger and for Hedda's wish for power over her own life. Ibsen makes them central from the first act.
When was Hedda Gabler written and is it a true story?
Ibsen wrote it in 1890, and it was first staged in 1891. It is fiction, not a true story, though it deals with real social pressures on women in nineteenth century Norway.
Is Hedda Gabler hard to read?
It has a clear plot set in one room. Characters often hide their feelings behind small talk.