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20091112-11 Hedda Gabler, day 2 (Group 1)

Page history last edited by cgrabem@... 14 years, 4 months ago

Summary

 

While reading Hedda Gabler, we have to ask ourselves "why does Hedda do what she does?"  Today we discussed why she gave Lovborg the gun, why she burns the manuscript, and why she shot herself.  It may be because she's bored; this is because of the role of women during her time, and her lack of control and imagination.  While Hedda loves to have control over others, she makes sure not to get into scandal.

 

Hedda has an obsession with vine leaves in Lovborg’s hair. When she says this, she is making a reference to Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry. Lovborg’s drinking and sexual escapades are considered a rebellion in society, and this is what Hedda is referring to. She wants him to rebel again so she can prove she has control and so she can hear more of his stories like in the past.

 

Hedda burns Lovborg's manuscript because it is his and Thea's "child," and she covets Thea's control over Lovborg. Lovborg stopped drinking for Thea, and she inspired him to write again.  Thea has control over Lovborg where Hedda doesn't, and Hedda won't stand for this.  This made Hedda want to mold Lovborg’s destiny.  So out of anger and jealousy, she burns their "child".

 

When Hedda gets trapped by Brack and her fear of scandal, she loses control over herself, and later, her husband to Thea. George and Thea start working on a manuscript together, much like Lovborg and Thea had. George tells Hedda that Brack would keep her company. Hedda wanted to show that she wasn’t going to lose control, so she did what she thought was the ultimate act of control and rebellion- she shot herself in the temple.

word count: 280

 

Passages

 

page 59

Hedda: No, wait! I must give you a memento to take with you.

Lovborg: This? Is this the memento?

Hedda: Do you recognize it? It was aimed at you once.

Lovborg: You should have used it then.

Hedda: Take it--and do you use it now.

This conversation between Hedda and Lovborg is about Hedda regaining control. Hedda gives him the gun and essentially tells him to commit suicide. When Lovborg does this in the way that Hedda envisions as beautiful,  he will regain vine leaves in his hair--which were formerly lost when he got arrested at the brothel. This passage can also be seen as Lovborg regaining control over his own life as well. His suicide is a rebellion against societal values, and this courageous act can redeem himself in Hedda's eyes, as well as his own. 

 

page 65

Mrs. Elvsted: oh God! Oh God-!

Tesman: To the Hospital! And at the point of death.

Hedda: So soon then-

Mrs. Elvsted: And we parted in anger, Hedda!

Hedda: Thea-Thea-be careful!

 

Hedda is telling Thea to be careful because she (Hedda) is afraid of scandal.  She cares what others think and now that scandal surrounds Lovborg, Hedda does not want people to know of Thea's relationship with him. This passage also shows how Hedda involuntarily says incriminating phrases in the presence of Judge Brack. What she says here allows him to believe that she was involved in Lovborg's suicide, and he uses that to trap her later.

 

page 68

Brack: This- the event did not happen at his lodgings

Hedda: Oh, that can make no difference

Brack: Perhaps it may. For I must tell you- Eilert Lovborg was found shot in-in Mademoiselle Diana's boudior.

Hedda: That is impossible, Judge Brack! He cannot have been there again today.

Brack: He was there this afternoon. He went there, he said, to demand the return of something which they had taken from him. Talked wildly about a lost child-

Hedda: Ah-so that was why-

Brack: I thought probably he meant his manuscript; but now I hear he destroyed that himself. So I suppose it must have been his pocket-book.

Hedda: Yes, no doubt. And there-there he was found?

Brack: Yes, there. With a pistol in his breast-pocket, discharged. The ball had lodged in a vital part.

Hedda: In the breast-yes.

Brack: no- in the bowels.

When Hedda heard earlier that Lovborg had been shot, she thought it was suicide.  She believed it to be beautiful, spontaneous, courageous and a way to take back control of a person's life.  Because of this, in her mind, Lovborg had earned his vine leaves back.  In this passage, Judge Brack is telling Hedda that he was shot in the bowels, and it is not clear whether or not the death was due to suicide or murder. The placement of the shot wound, as well as the possibility of murder, disappoints Hedda because Lovborg's actions are no longer beautiful. The bowels are significantly less beautiful because of its double meaning of the genitals. Rather than being shot in the brain where he makes his decisions, he is shot in the other part of his body that he thinks with (and possibly by a prostitute).

 

Key terms

 

  • Control- power to regulate, direct, or dominate. Hedda desires control over men in her life.
  • scandal- public disgrace; this is Hedda's biggest fear. Adventures become scandals when outsiders or the police get involved.
  • bowels- the digestive tract below the stomach, could also mean "genitals" in Hedda Gabler. 

 

Comments (3)

Elizabeth Cooney said

at 9:19 pm on Nov 16, 2009

We have way too many words in our summary. If anyone else can cull the summary some more, please do. I have cut as much as I think I can. thanks

jstolz said

at 11:37 am on Nov 17, 2009

killer job on the notes guys

Brian Croxall said

at 6:01 pm on Nov 17, 2009

I have to agree with Josh's comments on the wiki page. These are killer notes. You took an incredibly dense day of class and condensed it into a readable page, covering all of the main questions. You chose your passages well, using them to amplify a couple of points that you couldn't make more completely in the summary. Moreover, you do a good job at discussing multiple things that are happening in each of the passages. The terms/definitions are not that important in this case, but they are useful to have here.

If I were to suggest a change in anything, it might have been to put a little more emphasis on why Hedda gives Lovborg the gun. After all, we spent the greatest part of class on that subject. But then again, what we learned when discussing that question just help us to better understand the other two.

Your work on the notes improved throughout the semester. Well done.

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