3 h 28 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 85 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 85 pagesAbout this book
What if the life everyone expects you to want feels like a trap?
In Henrik Ibsen’s four-act play Hedda Gabler, a general’s daughter returns from her honeymoon to a home she dislikes. Her husband, Jørgen Tesman, is a kind, hardworking scholar who sees nothing wrong with their marriage. Hedda feels bored and confined. She longs for freedom and influence, yet fears the scandal that might follow any break with society’s rules.
Then visitors bring other lives and desires into the Tesmans’ drawing room. Thea Elvsted has left her husband to help Eilert Løvborg, a gifted writer and Tesman’s rival. Judge Brack takes an interest in Hedda and the household’s secrets. As Hedda presses Thea for details, her hunger for power over another life begins to shape their conversations.
What you’ll discover
- A restless, guarded heroine Meet a proud woman whose longing for influence clashes with her fear of scandal.
- One room, mounting tension Feel the pressure build as visitors unsettle the drawing room Hedda already finds confining.
- Two kinds of courage Watch Thea’s quiet resolve stand against Hedda’s restless desire to control other lives.
- Pistols at the garden door Discover the unsettling moment when Hedda fires at Judge Brack, only half in jest.
- The cost of appearances Explore how duty, gender roles and ambition leave little room for openly expressed desire.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who like tight, character-driven drama, and for anyone who wants to understand a play that actors still fight to perform. If you want fast action or a cheerful ending, you may find its quiet tension less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A honeymoon ends in a house she dislikes
- Visitors from the past unsettle the house
- Hedda craves power over another life
- Her father's pistols and her fear of scandal
- What the play is really about
- How Ibsen tells it
Who’s who
- Hedda GablerThe general's daughter and new Mrs Tesman, she is proud, restless and bored, and she longs for freedom and influence while dreading scandal.
- Jørgen TesmanHedda's husband, a kind, industrious scholar who hopes for a professorship and sees nothing wrong with his marriage.
- Eilert LøvborgA gifted writer with a wild past, he has reformed and written a daring new book, and he is Tesman's rival.
- Thea ElvstedAn old schoolfellow of Hedda's who has left her husband to help Løvborg, and who shows a quiet courage Hedda lacks.
- Judge BrackA smooth, worldly friend of the family who enjoys secrets and hopes to become very close to Hedda.
- Aunt JulleTesman's loving aunt, who helped raise him and who delights in his new home and marriage.
- BertaThe old family servant, loyal to the Tesmans, who moves to the new house and tries to please Hedda.
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Poetry & DramaFree to read
Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen· 1890
A restless newlywed seeks control over the lives around her.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 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.
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The author
Henrik Ibsen
1828–1906 · Norwegian playwright
Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. He was born in Skien, Norway, and lived in Italy and Germany from 1864 to 1891 before returning to Norway. He wrote A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), and Hedda Gabler (1890). He died in Oslo.
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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.
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