Hedda Gabler is a strange story about a strange woman. More than just strange, I would go so far as to say, I believe Hedda to be literally insane. Hedda is complicated, intelligent, controlling, manipulative, and mad.
While she clearly seems to be the most intelligent person in the play, even surrounded by learned men, she also displays some rather eccentric tendencies. We do not gain insight into the thoughts of Hedda, due to this being a play, not a story. When Hedda pretends to shoot at Brock, it may be jocular in nature - but it could be pointing to an underlying mental brake down.
She seems to have little in the way of interest - except for control. Perhaps this is based on a lack of control over her own mind - this lack of control in herself is causing her to want to control others. The relationships she has are not strictly sexual - nor do they seem to be based on how she appreciated or likes others - but instead based solely on her ability to control another person. For instance, she does not marry for happiness or benefit, but apparently because Tesman is easy to control and manipulate.
Her madness seems to also manifest itself in an inability to actually care about anything. She remains unhappy, despite having everything she wants, and a large amount of control over the people (especially men) around her.
No comments:
Post a Comment