Hedda Gabler (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Henrik Ibsen
List Price:
Our Price: $0.01
You Save: $1.99 (100%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Henrik IbsenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-07-01
ISBN: 0486264696
Number of pages: 80
Publisher: Dover Publications
Book Reviews of Hedda Gabler (Dover Thrift Editions)
Book Review: Excellent play !
Summary: 5 Stars
How can this be described as a boring play?! Hedda shoots herself in the end, which is very dramatic. The play abounds in black comedy. It is a funny play too, as when Hedda insults Aunt JuJu (what a silly name!) by pretending that JuJu's hat is the maid's, and saying that the hat is old and ugly. Most simple-minded readers see Hedda as being callous and cruel, because on the surface Tesman and his family appear to be nice. However, they view Hedda as a possession, a beautiful aristocratic ornament lighting up their bourgeois home. Hedda throughout her life has been treated as a possession of others, as General Gabler's daughter. When Eilert tries to make a lover of her, she responds violently. When Tesman attempts to own her, she insults him and his family. When Judge Brack blackmails Hedda, and implies that the price of his silence is her sexual favours, Hedda can't stand it anymore, that she, because of her sex and position in society, must be the object of others.
Hedda must also be seen as a sympathetic character. The world of "Hedda Gabler" is one of repression, where people act according to invisible codes (similar to "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton). Hedda wishes for a world that is free from these rigid and repressive laws, and what is wrong with that desire? To be in a world where one can be their true self is Hedda's deepest wish. Tesman, the seemingly nice man, hides his deep hatred and resentment of Eilert. Judge Brack hides his lustful and conniving nature under a veneer of civilised conduct. This world is detestable to Hedda, and yet even she is a prisoner of this society. She never expresses her affection for Eilert, a person of a similar temperament to Hedda's. She cannot show her jealously of Eilert and Thea in a healthy manner. Hedda's constant movement on the stage imply her desire to escape this world, and highlight how trapped she is. When Eilert kills himself in manner most undignified, Hedda realises that in this world there is nothing romantic and beautiful, but only something ugly and rotton at the core. This is more than she can bear, and the added insults of Judge Brack drive her to suicide. Even then, she is cheated of that dignity she wished for. The characters don't give way to passionate grief, but apply logic-this doesn't happen in real life they reason. So Hedda is misunderstood, and the tragedy in her death is unrealised. It was the society that turned Hedda into a mean yet sad woman, much as it affected the other characters in a negative way.
Summary of Hedda Gabler (Dover Thrift Editions)
This dark psychological drama was first produced in Norway in 1890 and depicts the evil machinations of a ruthless, nihilistic heroine: the infamous Hedda Gabler. Readers will discover a masterly exploration of the nature of evil, along with the potential for tragedy that lies in human frailty. A true masterpiece.
Continental European Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Continental European Books
A Field of Honor: Writers, Court Culture, and Public Theater in French Literary Life from Racine to the Revolution (Gutenberg-e)by Gregory Brown
Columbia University Press; Published: 2005-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $60.00
Contemporary French Theatre and Performance (Performance Interventions)Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2011-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $72.84
Price in other shops:
Chekhov: A Biographyby Ernest Joseph Simmons
Univ of Chicago Pr (T); Published: 1970-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $30.00
Plays and Petersburg Tales: Petersburg Tales; Marriage; The Government Inspector (Oxford World's Classics)by Nikolai Gogol
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.41
Price in other shops:
Leitmotiv and Drama: Wagner, Brecht, and the Limits of "Epic" Theatreby Hilda Meldrum Brown
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1991-09-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $724.95
R.U.R. and The Insect Play (Oxford Paperbacks)by K. & J. Capek
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1961-12-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.95
Price in other shops:
The School for Wives and The Learned Ladies, by Moliere: Two comedies in an acclaimed translation.by Jean-Baptiste Moliere
Mariner Books; Published: 1991-11-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Andromache, by RacineMariner Books; Published: 1984-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
Life of Galileo (Penguin Classics)by Bertolt Brecht
Penguin Classics; Published: 2008-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.32
Price in other shops:
The Importance of Being Earnestby Oscar Wilde
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1995-03-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $91.05
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Heidi Chronicles: Uncommon Women and Others & Isn't It Romanticby Wendy Wasserstein
Vintage; Published: 1991-07-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
The Importance of Being Earnest (Dover Thrift Editions)by Oscar Wilde
Dover Publications; Dover Publications; Published: 1990-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Overcoat and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)by Nikolai Gogol
Dover Publications; Published: 1992-02-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.53
Price in other shops:
Krik? Krak!by Edwidge Danticat
Vintage; Published: 1996-04-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.48
Price in other shops:
Kokoro (Penguin Classics)by Natsume Soseki
Penguin Classics; Published: 2010-02-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Medea (Dover Thrift Editions)by Euripides
Dover Publications; Published: 1993-04-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Way of the World (Dover Thrift Editions)by William Congreve
Dover Publications; Published: 1994-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.18
Price in other shops:
Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approachesby Tony Kushner
Theatre Communications Group; Published: 1993-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.58
Price in other shops:
Companyby Stephen Sondheim, George Furth
Theatre Communications Group; Published: 1995-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.81
Price in other shops:
A Streetcar Named Desire (New Directions Paperbook)by Tennessee Williams
New Directions; Published: 2004-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.21
Price in other shops: