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"HEDDA GABLER" (HENRIK IBSEN) & "THE SEA GULL" (ANTON CHEKHOV).
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Examines two plays' characters & themes as reflections of societies in which they live.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines two plays' characters & themes as reflections of societies in which they live.
Paper Introduction:
Ibsen's characters are clearly products of the society in which they live. The plays of Henrik Ibsen have a strong social content, indicating the views of the playwright on some matters, and more directly showing the way different social issues were developing in the society of his time and the way those issues were in turn shaping that society. He wrote about women's rights, the plight of "whistleblowers," the meaning of social responsibility, the effects of corruption. Ibsen's views and his challenging dramatic methods made him something of a social outcast even as he was becoming one of the world's major playwrights, a voice that would speak to subsequent generations perhaps even more strongly than he did to his own. In Hedda Gabler, several of these themes come together, notably the place of women in society, the meaning of social responsibility, and
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Her father has taught her skills more suitable to aman, such as riding and shooting. Treplev dreams of literary greatness but is thwarted when he gives aprivate performance of his play. He knows thatshe would do much to avoid a scandal, and he fully expects her to comply.For Hedda such a capitulation would be impossible. She has done these thingsas Hedda Tesman, and always there is a sense that Hedda Gabler would havebeen more adventurous, less cowardly, and better able to cope. In addition, herown illusions regarding the suicide of Eilert have been shattered, and sheknows that she has been complicitous in the death of Eilert and that thejudge can prove it. Chekhov sets up a contrast between the way this class lives outillusions, holding onto the wrong values from the past, embracing "newforms" for their own sake, and finding themselves in the end with no valuesat all to sustain them. Brack has pressured herto accede to his demands and fully expects that she will. Eilert represents the romantic ideal to Hedda, and he lives his lifeas she would if she were a man. They are in love with each other, and today their souls will be merged in the desire to create a single artistic image (Chekhov 1 6).This is indeed the romantic image that Konstantin has of both art and love,and in his own way, then, he lives out his illusions just as thoroughly asdoes the mother he criticizes. She does not fit the mold of the humble wife and does notwant to fit that mold. Two yeas later, Treplev finallyachieves something as a writer, and yet his seeming success does not changethe despair that is ingrained in his personality. He then attemptssuicide, and Nina runs away with Trigorin. New forms are needed, and it we can't havethem, then we had better have nothing at all" (Chekhov 1 9). The characters in this play are facing the loss of certaintraditions and the encroachment of new ideas they fear. Works CitedChekhov, Anton. Eilert's suicide prevents her from accomplishingthis task, and Brack's blackmail shows her that she will never achieve thisideal in this world. Nina returns, cast asideby Trigorin, and she now compares herself to the seagull killed by Treplev. Chekhov's Russian society embraces transition a bit tooreadily at times, while Ibsen's Swedish society fights it in a vain attemptto stop time. She is faced with the need to make a decision--she either has toaccept scandal or give in to the demands of Judge Brack. He is in love with Nina, whose father owns landnearby. Thereis a strong sense of loss and despair in the atmosphere of this play,heightened by the fate of Konstantin Treplev. New York: New American Library, 1964.Jacobus, Lee A. In Hedda Gabler, several of these themes come together, notablythe place of women in society, the meaning of social responsibility, andthe effects of corruption on society and on the individual. Madame Treplev is the self-centered middle-agedactress who is also the center of the group, and she has her lover withher, a popular writer named Trigorin who is also a hedonist, just as self-centered as Madame Treplev. Ibsen's characters are clearly products of the society in which theylive. Ultimately, she can only seeone way to make the dramatic gesture she so seeks in her life, and that isby shooting herself. He wrote aboutwomen's rights, the plight of "whistleblowers," the meaning of socialresponsibility, the effects of corruption. Chekhov is not onewho simply extols the virtues of the past and of traditions and decries thechanges he sees coming, and in this play indeed he shows how bankrupt theold society has been and proves it by demonstrating how it has producedthis particular group of lost and disturbed people. From her first appearance in the play, itis evident that she is unhappy with her life and sees it as boring andendless. His despair emerges in an act of desperation--he kills a seagull andplaces it at Nina's feet as a symbol of his ruined hopes. Chekhov is every bit ascritical of society for the ills it keeps as the changes it embraces whenit should not. The milieu of this play is the world of the landed gentry of thetime. Significantly, she decides on the same course takenby Eilert and kills herself, perhaps unconsciously emulating the man shehad formerly idealized. Ibsen uses the character of Hedda to create a more modern sense oftragedy. Treplev,however, does not live in the real world any more firmly than does hismother, for he would believe what Medvedenko says about him: Nina Zarechnaya is going to act, and the play was written by Konstantin Gavrilovich. The Major Plays. She looks at the leaves, "so yellow--and so withered" (Jacobus6 1). The Bedford Introduction to Drama. In terms of the society of her time, Hedda is somewhat different fromother women. Treplev represents a desire for change for its own sake, and heignores many of the old truths in a headlong rush for something new anddifferent: "We need new forms. The play is set at the Sorin estate where a number of people havegathered for a play. The society in which all this takes place views itself ascivilized but is essentially repressive, and especially so toward women.Hedda is already talked about because she does not fit the mold into whichsociety tries to fit all women. Hedda Gabler was one sort of person, and she has been forced tobecome another as Hedda Tesman. Her return and her own despair reawakens the old lost hopes of Treplev,and this time he manages to kill himself. Her son is Konstantin, an aspiring writerhimself, dedicated to creating new literary forms. She also admits to Lovborg that she is a coward (Jacobus 617), and sheclearly understands the sins she has committed. They kill the old values as surely as Konstantinkills the seagull. She has survived in this world because ofthe strength of her romantic illusions, but they have been taken from her.Hedda has no illusions about the external world in which she lives, and shehas married George Tesman and in doing so found a man who protects her andgives her a certain status. and Treplev associate this with his loss of Nina. Hedda sees herself as the sort of high-born character common totragedy, but she does not live in a world where she has that sort of socialrole. Her system of valuesis both personal and highly selfish, but it is a system that serves herneeds. This is a situation she finds intolerable, so muchso that she would rather escape this world than endure it. As the play progresses, this system is destroyed until she sees allpower ceded to others. She sees no future forherself except one with her husband and with Brack visiting whenever helikes. Ibsen's drama depends heavily on the interplay of characters in asocial setting. She learns that this ideal is not as itseemed to her, and she tries in several ways to revive her ideal in hermind if not in the world. Brack makes a clear statement of the amazing nature of what Hedda hasdone: "People don't do such things!" (Ibsen 893). She is not thus well prepared for therole of wife, and she has strong romantic notions that derive from herfascination with the military as well as form her lack of training in theusual female role. Everyone in this group is frustrated,with dreams that remain unfulfilled and will continue to remain so. Boston: Bedford, 1993. However, his writing isnot up to his aspirations. This is a society in transition, and manyare not adapting well to the changes that are coming, to the values thatshould be retained, and to their own egos. She is a frustrated actress, and seeking the bright lights of thecity, she runs off with Trigorin. She faces a life even more boring than the one she hasbeen living, in her view, and she would rather leave this world thancontinue in it under those circumstances. Hedda Gabler was a girl raised by her military father,and he clearly imposed discipline and order in her young life while perhapsalso instilling within her the desire for more than society was willing togrant her. She cannot be the gracious housekeeper society expects, and shecannot use the military skills of her father. Anton Chekhov in his play The Sea Gull (and in a number of otherworks) is most concerned with the way some aspect of society isdisintegrating. He sees hismother as someone he loves but also pities because she lives a life he seesas empty and pointless, with her fame, her writer, and her ego. Ibsen's views and hischallenging dramatic methods made him something of a social outcast even ashe was becoming one of the world's major playwrights, a voice that wouldspeak to subsequent generations perhaps even more strongly than he did tohis own. She lives her life in a calculating mannerintended to enjoy whatever advantages she can gain. When told that the leaves have withered because it is September, shestates: "Yes, to think--that we're already in--in September" (Jacobus 6 1). The plays of Henrik Ibsen have a strong social content, indicatingthe views of the playwright on some matters, and more directly showing theway different social issues were developing in the society of his time andthe way those issues were in turn shaping that society. This is what is such a surpriseto the judge, for he never thought anyone could take what he sees as aminor degradation so seriously. They seek the new, as Nina does, and then findthemselves cast aside and lost. She is a woman in a male-dominated society, andshe is too strong to live in such a social structure if she is not able tomanipulate it to project her own values. It is a failure, causing the audience tolaugh when it should not.
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