Hedda Tesman’s motivation in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler has been subject to much attention in critical scholarship. Many critics have argued what they believe to be a motivation for Hedda’s behaviour; however some seek to deny any motivation actually exists.
This essay will argue that Hedda does have a motivation for her behaviour, and will argue that this is fuelled by a single force throughout the play - which is boredom - using relevant textual and critical references.At the beginning of the play, we learn that Hedda Tesman has just returned from her six month honeymoon with her newlywed husband, Jorgen (referred to as Tesman in the play). As the play unfolds we begin to learn that Hedda does not actually love Tesman. This can be seen in some instances in Act Two.
For instance, Hedda discusses Tesman with Judge Brack, and when asked if she loves Tesman, Hedda says ‘Oh! Don’t use such a sentimental word’. Hedda also reveals the negatives of their honeymoon together (‘I was excruciatingly bored’, ‘that was the most awful part of it all’).Furthermore, Hedda reveals that the reason why she married Tesman was because of her boredom in life (‘My time was up’). We begin to question how long Hedda’s relationship with Tesman will last, when she says that ‘the most intolerable thing of all’ is ‘everlastingly having to be with one and the same person’. Yet however much Hedda seems to show contempt about her marriage to Tesman, she insists on not abandoning their relationship (‘I prefer to remain sitting where I am, alone with the other person’).We therefore assume that Hedda is experiencing boredom, not just in her relationship with Tesman but in life too.
This is qualified in Act Two when Hedda says ‘I am bored, I tell you’. As the play continues it becomes more apparent that boredom is in fact a motivator for Hedda’s behaviour. Jake Pourshi, in his critical analysis of the play, argues that Hedda’s boredom is the cause of her attempt to ‘ruin the lives of all of her aqcuaintances’, and that ‘because she is not happy in her marriage, she attempts to forbid anyone else to live a content life’ .Pourshi makes an extremely valid argument. He claims that Hedda’s boredom can relate not only to her marriage, but the setting too: “The whole of the play occurs indoors. Therefore, Hedda is constantly submerged in a place in which she is unhappy.
Because her husband Tesman is constantly occupied with other happenings, Hedda is left in a monotonous setting that lends itself to plans of manipulation” .Thus it can be inferred that the combined causes of the setting which Hedda finds herself in, and the affairs of her husband Jorgen Tesman, create boredom for Hedda and motivate her manipulative actions. It can be argued that Ibsen’s reasons for giving Hedda manipulative intentions relate to the ‘New Woman’ literary movement in the late 19th century, with some literature written in this time period interpreted as being focused on the expanding potential of women to push the limits set by male-dominated society.In his preliminary notes for Hedda Gabler, Ibsen argued of women that ‘They aren’t all created to be mothers' .
The play was seen by critics as one of the plays that most strongly demonstrated these feminist ideas. For instance, Cory Barrows argues in his criticism of Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie, that Hedda ‘is the embodiment of Ibsen’s New Woman: she revolts against the unfair reality of her life by envisioning her own universe, with her final act of liberty, suicide, proving to be the culmination of her independence’ .It is clear that this ‘New Woman’ movement and its ideas of self-determination, freedom, equality with males - and ultimately women who attempted to push against the limits imposed on them by society - are central to the idea that boredom acts as a cause for Hedda’s behaviour. Hedda is bored in her marriage, but because she is trapped in the time period of the ‘Old Woman’ - which emphasised the importance of a woman's duty to her husband - she lacks the courage to get out of her marriage, causing her to become bored.Hedda wishes to manipulate other characters’ lives because she cannot manipulate her own life. This is the reason why she says to Mrs Elvsted that ‘I want, for once in my life, to have power over a human being’s fate’.
Hedda’s boredom in her marriage with Tesman is not only caused by Tesman’s ‘constant occupation with other happenings’, as Pourshi rightfully argues, but is also caused by their differences in class.Hedda used to belong to an aristocratic family although still considers herself to be a member of the aristocracy, whereas Tesman is from the bourgeoisie class. Hedda has therefore married into a bourgeois life, which she despises. Gwendolyn Cuizon states, in her review of Hedda Gabler, that Hedda ‘feels trapped as she assumed the inevitable role of a middle class courtesy of her marrying one, resulting in feelings of boredom’, and that ‘her inability to find better use of her time drives her to commit ghastly acts’ .
This is a strong argument emphasising how the differences in class that exist between Hedda and her husband lead to her boredom. This can be seen in Act Two from her discussions with Judge Brack, a fellow aristocrat, where Hedda complains about how she ‘never met a soul even remotely connected with our [aristocratic] circle’. The motivation for Hedda Tesman’s behaviour in Hedda Gabler is caused by the boredom she experiences in her marriage. The critics aforementioned advocate boredom as the cause of Hedda’s manipulative actions.We have learnt that this boredom has been caused by a combination of factors: Hedda’s marriage to Jorgen Tesman, who is not only involved in affairs she is not interested in but also belongs to a lower social class; the additional factor of the indoor setting which, as argued by Pourshi, submerges Hedda in a place where she is unhappy; as well as the influence of the ‘New Woman’ at the time of writing, where Hedda’s desire to leave her marriage (characteristic of the ‘New Woman’) was countered by her inability to leave her husband due to societal restrictions imposed on her that emphasised a woman’s duty to her husband (the ‘Old Woman’).These factors combine to create Hedda’s boredom, and using textual references from the play, it is therefore clear that boredom is the only cause of Hedda’s manipulative behaviour.
