Hedda Gabler free essay sample

In Hedda Gabler, Ibsen positions the audience to have some sympathy for Heddas desire for control over her own destiny. Ibsens historical context at the end of the 19th century has clearly influenced his depiction of the characters and their role in society. Although we might Judge Hedda harshly from out present day standpoint, it is important to take into account the expectation placed upon women in the society of the time. Ibsens view is that society should change to allow greater freedom for women. The play endorses his views of equality between men and women and the dea of freedom of choice and individuality. The play criticizes interpersonal manipulation and submission of women; showing through the character Hedda, the result such things cause. The idea of freedom and equality play a central role in Ibsens play to encourage the audience to feel sympathy for Heddas desire for control of her own life. We will write a custom essay sample on Hedda Gabler or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the time and setting of Hedda Gabler society places high expectations on women and a limiting perspective of their role. Throughout the play Hedda plays a victim of these expectations and desires freedom from societies rules for women and to be able to e an independent individual. When Hedda crosses the room, raising her arms and clenching her hands, as if in fury. Then she pulls back the curtains from the glass door and stands looking out shes showing her frustration with her separation from the outside world. Throughout the play the glass door is a reoccurring symbolic feature that represents Heddas entrapment and lack of freedom. The symbolic feature of the glass door criticizes societys views of that time because the audience is naturally compelled to sympathize with Heddas lack of freedom and therefore lack of control. In Hedda Gabler, one might suggest that with societys expectation restricting Hedda control over her own life she seeks control of others. Hedda frequently refers to herself as bored and lacking control of her life this leads to her desire to have the power to shape a human beings destiny and her manipulation of other people. Hedda manipulation of people satisfies her desire for control of others and the ability to create scandal. Hedda sees the agreement of her statement, So l, poor thing, have no power over you at all from Lovborg as purely a challenge for her to regain the ower she had over him before Thea took that power. The manuscript is a symbol of Thea and Lovborgs child therefore in burning it Hedda is stripping Theas power over Lovborg and regaining it for herself. This action is also satisfying Heddas desire of scandal by the destruction of others happiness. It is easy to Judge Hedda harshly when she is so cruel and manipulative, but Ibsen encourages the audience to sympathize with her in questioning the idea that society is the reason for Heddas need of manipulation and control of others. Societys expectations for women play a big part for the way Hedda is. Ibsen critiques the lack of equality between men and women throughout the play. Through the alone is not satisfying even though society places such high expectations on women to do this. He makes you sympathize for Hedda through sympathy for Aunt Julle and Thea. Aunt Julle plays the role of the mother and is left alone to look after Tesman and her sister Rina and you naturally feel empathy for her when Aunt Rina dies and she doesnt know what to do with herself because she only knows the motherhood life. You also sympathize for Thea with societys high expectations on women; her old move of leaving her husband is looked down upon (But, Thea, what do you think people will say about you even if its her only way of happiness. In creating these characters, Ibsen brings great understanding to the strong views and expectations of the society and allows you to feel sympathetic for Hedda because her actions may be her only way of gaining as much power she can in a society, which restricts women from such power. Ibsen encourages the questioning that society is the reason for why Hedda is the way she is by also creating the aspect of the pistols and how they may represent a false ense of power. The pistols are an important symbolic feature for the audience of current culture to really understand the lack of power women had in that society. In telling Hedda, why didnt you shoot me down when you threatened to! Lovborg is giving Hedda a false sense of power by making her believe that the pistols give her power over him. The fact that Hedda takes her own life by her own pistols, represents Ibsens criticism against societys views that power is everything and only for men by showing that endorsing these views encourages women to confide in a false sense of ower which leads to destruction. In the destruction of herself, Ibsen shows that because of societys expectations Hedda could never fulfill her desire for control of her own destiny, which compels the audiences to feel sympathetic. In the play Hedda Gabler it is easy for the audience to Judge the protagonist Hedda harshly, but Ibsen brings to head the question that whether society is the reason for the way Hedda is? The fact that Hedda desires control of others lives because she cannot gain proper control of her own is a great example the lack of freedom and quality women had in that era. Ibsen views are reoccurring with Heddas characteristics of cruelty and manipulation and the question of if she is like this purely because she feels entrapped and bored? Ibsens final criticism of societys views is shown through Heddas taking of her own life with her pistols which she believed possessed power and that is that the lack of equality causes women to create a false sense of power which leads to destruction. Therefore, Ibsens positions the audience to sympathize for Heddas desire for control of her own destiny.

The Long, Bitter Trail by Anthony Wallace essays

The Long, Bitter Trail by Anthony Wallace essays "The Long, Bitter Trail" deals mostly with the policies of removal in relocation of the Indians living in the American south east during the 1800s. The first thing that I noticed right on the cover of the book is the subtitle, Andrew Jackson and the Indians. From this I expected the book to focus more on Jackson himself. In the introduction, there is a fair amount of time spent describing Jackson and his background. The first several pages of the introduction are actually an abbreviated biography on Jackson. However what I found surprising was the fact that the author chose to focus not only on the policies of Jackson himself but Jacksonian policy towards dealing with the Indians as well as its opposition. There is also a great deal of time spent on various tribes affected by the policies of the time. The focus here in not so much on their culture and customs, but rater how they responded to the polices of the United States. One thing that I noticed throughout the book was that the author usually takes the time to justify the polices of the time and their opposition by using the same logic that was used in the 1800s. This is not necessarily based on the author's own beliefs or opinions but simply on what the popular beliefs of the time were. This was something that I found very refreshing, it seems that many time when dealing with topics such as those discussed in this book the author will usually try to force his own beliefs and opinions on the reader. The introduction dealing mostly with Jackson and giving a basic overview of the state of the country during the time period focused on in the book, chapter one really seemed to serve almost as a more complete introduction whose purpose is to allow the reader to make sense of chapters two and three, whereas chapters two, three, and four are necessary for the reader to be able to fully make sense of the final chapter or in this case the AFTERMATH. In ...