Hedda Gabler- Crescendo of the Age:19th Century Society

Hedda Gabler is a play written by Henrik Ibsen during 19th century Norway. This time period is known as the Victorian era which is largely characterized for its peace, prosperity and social reform. We find elements of the Victorian Era throughout Ibsen’s play in various forms ranging from human rights to economic peculiarities. Firstly, through plot development, it is apparent that Judge Brak and Hedda Gabler are the only members that belong to the aristocrat social class while the other members are upstarts that have gained their membership through other means. Notably, we witness Berta commenting “I should never have dreamt in those days that she and Master George would make a match of it.” In other words, Berta is surprised that two individuals from different social classes have married in such unlikely circumstances. Furthermore, we find Miss Tesman trying to fit within her new found status by purchasing a hat. This attempt utterly fails as Hedda mistakes it for a maid’s garment. Miss Tesman’s unfamiliarity and discomfort with her position only serves to emphasize the ascendancy of the middle class. Hence, we find the theme new money versus old money where previous upper class members find their world dissipating by the membership of the middle class.

Compared to the previous century, gender roles in society remained largely unchanged. There was still a large belief for a patriarchal system within households and the government. A monarch was still in place, only to be impeached in the late 19th century, with the aristocrats controlling economic and political elements throughout the country. Although the Victorian Era was a time of large reform, women’s roles were restricted to household duties and intermediaries of wealth through marriage. In Hedda Gabler, we find Hedda struggling against Victorian standards by her burning passion to find purpose for her life only to fail since society did not teach, and provide her with the necessary resources to do so. Additionally, Tesman’s membership to high society can be mainly attributed to Hedda accepting his hand in marriage thus signifying women’s roles as contracts of wealth. Furthermore, Hedda’s dilemma can also be attributed to the lack of economic mobility women faced. Her material wealth disappeared when she married Tesman thus showing that women had no control over property at the time. On another note, men’s roles in Victorian society was largely defined around the material success they achieved outside of the house. We notice throughout the play that Tesman is ecstatic about his career opportunity but rather jealous of Lovborg. This is shown when Tesman seems to take a subtle joy in the destruction of Lovborg’s “child.” After all, Lovborg achieved recognition by publishing a highly recognized yet controversial book while Tesman safely continues on with his research. Therefore, this jealous is mainly attributed to how society deemed men worthy and the characteristics men attributed themselves to when it came to self-worth.

In conclusion, the Victorian Era was a time where economic changes vastly swept over the country. We see in Hedda Gabler that the middle class are now flooding what use to be an exclusionary society. Despite the economic changes, male and female roles were largely unchanged but strictly defined. For one, males were responsible for bringing in and controlling wealth ,and pursuing worthy jobs.  The female role was mainly within the household with little to no opportunity for mobility in society. They were largely expected to take care of all household duties and retain an essence of purity, hence the impact of a sexual scandal. In summation, the play revolves around characters strictly adhering to Victorian social standards with only a few representing the oppressive and restrictive nature the standards carry.