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Realism is a literary movement that began in France during the mid-19th century. It later
spread in across Europe, through Russia and further overseas to the United States of America. It
is concerned with establishing real life, where the realist writers focus on illustrating the
meaningfulness of ordinary life. Besides, in a realistic play, the characters demonstrate freedom
and independence in their actions. Henrik Ibsen is known as the father realism since his plays
focus on values in the society. His plays led to the development of the realistic theatre, which is
currently the predominant form of theatre. They deal with the problems in the society, their
actions are in a contemporary setting, have a socio-critical perspective, and they present daily
situations and people. This essay discusses realism in the play Hedda Gabler and the
Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler is a realism piece of poetry, which focuses on the problems
within the society. The play is about the struggles of a woman, Hedda, who tries to evade her
boredom with the society by committing suicide at the end of the play. The three deaths
established in the play illustrate the reality of how bad life can be without sugar-coating any
event. Ibsen over dramatized the daily events to show the audience how life should be taken
seriously since it is not a fantasy. Besides, Hedda displays freedom and independence in her
actions. She rebels against the forces that work against her by threating to kill another character
and further committing suicide. The actions illustrate an act of independence and freedom. As a
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whole, Hedda Gabler is a realist play that illustrates how harsh life can be without any romance.
Hedda’s character of independence and freedom also establishes the realism of the play.
Hedda Gabler and Thea Elvsted are used by Ibsen in the play to establish the place of
women in the society. The two women, Hedda and Thea, are married to George and Eilert
respectively. The similarity between Hedda and Thea is that they are both discontented with the
limitations the society placed on them. However, they are both married to men who would bind
them to the same restraints. Besides, both women have issues with their partners in their
relationship. Hedda and Thea represents the struggles that women the current society encounter
in their marriages. In contrast, Hedda is different from Thea in the manner in which they handle
their challenges. Hedda is a masculine, aristocratic and manipulative while Thea is feminine kind
and passive. Thea represents women who are socially submissive to their feminine role in the
society and dedicate themselves to the child-bearing task. On the other hand, Hedda is
manipulative with the desire to have power over other characters. She is dissatisfied with life and
regards childbearing as despicable. Thea is portrayed as powerless but she is able to organize her
life to match with her desires. Hedda is powerful but unable to control her uncomfortable life,
which leads her to commit suicide. In general, Hedda and Thea represent women in the
contemporary society but differ in their character. Hedda is powerful and manipulative while
Henrik Ibsen demonstrates various forms of triangulation in the play Hedda Gabler. One
of the triangulation is between Hedda, Lovborg and Thea, where Thea was married to Lovborg.
Hedda got into the triangulation to control the relationship through her manipulative power over
Lovborg, who was once her lover. She is jealousy of the success that Lovborg and Thea have
created. She wishes she was part of the success and be an inspiration to Lovborg. Her focus is to
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destroy the relationship between Lovborg and Thea with her destructive nature. Thea inspired
Lovborg to write a manuscript, which was a symbol of redemption from the past life of Lovborg.
They highly valued the manuscript, treating it as their child that could lead to their brighter
future. Hedda is jealousy of the progress of the couples and aim at destroy the manuscript.
Hedda’s manipulative nature coupled with the lack of self-control in Lovborg enabled her to
acquire the manuscript and destroyed it. The difference between Hedda and Thea is also
displayed in the triangulation. Thea highly values the manuscript since she treats it as her child
while Hedda commits suicide yet he was pregnant, illustrating her lack of care for the child. As
a whole, Hedda got into the triangular relationship because of her jealousness regarding the
success of Lovborg and Thea. She manages to destroy the manuscript, which was a symbol of
There are various themes that are established in the play Hedda Gabler. Two of the