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Hedda Gabler Feminist Analysis

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Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright who published Hedda Gabler in 1890, was a passionate supporter of women’s rights and created many flawed, complex heroines throughout his plays, such as Hedda Gabler . He sought to remove the artificially imposed barriers between the males and females in Victorian Society. Life was tough for woman in Victorian Norway. Social confines, gender roles, restrictions on activities, friends, language, and a constant worry over reputation ruled the day. Ibsen channeled much of himself and his thoughts about gender problems through the characters in Hedda Gabler. The play asks questions of the power dynamic between women and men, the proper role of women in marriage, and of the concept of morals. Hedda Gabler is the …show more content…

In the case of Hedda Gabler, the leading character Hedda through depicting a feminist character is truly deprived of the feminist traits that women commonly possess. Ibsen has intentionally failed to mold her into a true feminine character and has only achieved to strip her of all the characteristics that make her a woman such as faithfulness, loyalty, love, care and sacrifice. The play is a feminist one but its leading character is in no respect feminine, rather is a harsh, sharp and masculine one. The so-called feminism is merely a source of destruction for many women depriving them of motherly love and injecting them with frustration, depression and annoyance. Thus, women such as Hedda are not capable of being called a woman. Hedda is a victim of all the negative qualities that can be imagined: treachery, jealousy, domination over others and playing with others fate. These are such traits that no longer let a woman remain womanly this is why Hedda is truly a victim of feminism. Going back to the play, we will start looking at evidence from the play that support this

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