Hedda (It's Over)

Overall I liked the book. It had a lot of twists and turns, some unexpected. Everything turned out to be so much different than I would have predicted in the beginning. I usually like books that I can relate to in one way or the other but I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. I think that the theme of Appearance vs. Reality did a lot for this book and that if everyone would have been exactly how they appeared to be this book would not have been half as good. I guess that's one way I can relate to the book, because it's true that you can't judge a book by its cover. And people are a lot different than they appear to be most of the time.

Hedda Vs. Bernarda

Hedda and Bernarda are the two leading ladies of the books we read. Bernarda is a dictator in her house. She controls the lives of her children and everyone else around her. She is a lot different than Hedda because during the book she appears to be somewhat out of control and in the end we see how she maintains her control and the author alludes to the fact that she will continue to have that control after the book was over. Hedda on the other hand. Appears to be in control in the beginning and at the end we see she never really was. And at the end of the book she ends her own life. Another major difference is Bernarda is a mom, and that is something Hedda (although she may of been in the near future) never became.

Hedda was Pregnant Right?

I don't really get the point of Hedda being pregnant in the book. I mean Ibsen kind of alludes to the fact that she is in the beginning and then? She committed suicide and no one says anything about the fact that she had taken two lives...so what was the point? Was it just to show her character because he could of just had her state that she didn't want to have children or something? I guess it does add a little something to the book, but not much. Really its just another unanswered question at the end of the book.

Hedda's Childhood

Everyone looks at Hedda as such a horrible person, right? But I'm just wondering if her childhood could be somewhat of a justification for her behavior. She was raised by a general, someone with power and control of people, including her. She looked up to her father the general and she probably thought of him asvery successful and hoped she could be like him one day. Therefore the way she is might correlate a lot with how she was raised. And her tendencies may not be completely be her fault. Just a Thought.

Thea

Thea is one of those characters who is someone you don't expect. Her appearance makes her seem fragile and insignificant. Someone who could easily be looked over. She has blonde hair, blue eyes. Who would expect that such a light feminine character to be defying the roles of women the way Thea is? She left her marriage, she has control of her life, and she may have even written the whole manuscript on her own, who really knows? But we know she has the control of her own life that Hedda is dying for. And she doesn't have to pretend to have it. She really does. Hedda acts like she ahs this control, and Thea doesn't but she has it. The theme of appearance vs. reality makes this book so much fun. It wouldn't be as fun if you could just look at a character and know what they were all about its more fun to make assumptions and then be wrong. It keeps you guessing about what will happen next.

Pistols

Ibsen is so clever. The way he uses pistols to show the struggle for power and inter conflicts of Hedda. Hedda has General Gabler (her fathers) pistol. She uses it as a tool to scare others for example in Act Two when she tells Judge, "And now Judge I'm going to shoot you" or something like that. She just wants to control others and she uses the pistols to do this. Tesman reacts negatively to them and he is scared. She is taking control of other peoples emotions because thats what she wants, control. This is interesting because at the end of the play, when she takes her own life using her pistol, she is doing this again. Does that mean she took control?

Its all About Power Baby! :)

I think power is very important in this book. Everyone is so power hungry. And when you think they have clear intensions they probably do not. Everyone is out to help themselves. It is so interesting to me because it is very realistic. People don't care how they reach the top they are just worried about getting there. The only completely sincere character in the book who doesn't seem to only be looking out for herself is Aunt Julie.

My First Impressions (Hedda and George)

After reading the first act I felt like I had a good idea of the characters. I think Hedda is snobby but lovable. I thought this due to the enconter between her and Aunt Julie, and her and Thea as well. Hedda seems to be a bit controlling and definetely seems sly like she's working to keep people in places where she can play off of them. She definetely seems to be the kind of character with alterior motives. George on the other hand seems more laid back and easier to read. He throws all his cards on the table so you can see exactly whats going on in his mind. He seems very simple and you know exactly what he is into. You don't have to work hard to figure it out. I think it is a little weird they are a couple considering they don't seem to have much in common, but after analysising Hedda I'm sure theres some reason. Its just not obvious yet. Which is probably how Hedda wants it.

Judge Brack

Judge Brack is such an interesting character to me. Ibsens choice of words in the description of Brack on page 242 really says a lot about him and for me it was quite forshadowing in some aspects. Brack is described as "a man of forty five...his face is roundish with a distinguished profile...carefully groomed...neatly clipped ends...a bit TOO youthful for his age" (242). Wow. So when I read this I knew he would be a very interesting character. The distinguished profile 's suggests he is well known, he's not just your average person walking down the street he's recognizable. After analysising this I knew he would be important to how the book played out. Next he is careful groomed with neatly clipped ends. He cares a lot about his appearance, and this can suggest a lot about himself in general. I don't know if you would catch this without reading on more but maybe this could also be forshadowing to how in the end it was really all about him and getting things to go the way he wanted (self-centered). And last but not least he is youthful for his age, a bit TOO youthful. This could suggest a lot about what happens for one the triangle that he wants between himself and the Tesman's. This is not something you would expect from someone in his time, and especially someone his age. Because most people his age would probably be more traditional and in the past, while his is in the present. This can also say something about how motivated he is to get what he wants, he's not ready to embrace his age yet and still is looking for fun. He would also at his age be expected to settle down which he doesn't want to do either. Brack is definetely interesting, and his description says a lot about him.

Appearance Vs. Reality (Hedda)

I think appearance vs. reality is the most interesting theme in this book. I mean really nothing is as it seems with this characters. For example Hedda always wants to appear in control, she wants to control the people around her, she wants to be able to do and get what she wants when she wants. She tries so hard to fight the idea of males in control. But she can't and that's when we see her FINALLY take control by ending her own life. She didn't know what else to do and since she didn't see any other way other and she couldn't bear look into change or the future for the answer she "quit" while she could. So while Hedda may seem to be a strong character she really is not, and in the end she may be considered the weakest character in the book, because everyone else has at least a little control. The whole time she works so hard to appear in control until reality catches up with her.