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 V H E GRAND OBJECT OF HUMAN DESIREm:

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

May 1993

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 APPROVAL

NAME: Sheila Hancock

DEGREE: Master of Arts (English)

TITLE OF THESIS: "The Grand Object of Human Desire":

The Female Quest far Power in Henrik ibsen's
A Qoi! House, Ghosts, and Hedda Gabfer

Examining Committee:

Chair: Kathy Mezei

Associate Professor of English

Malcolm Page
Professor of English

Errol Durbach
External Examiner
Professor, Department of Theatre
University of British Columbia

May 5, 1993
PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE
 Abstract
Of f bsen, Brian Johnston posits that, "...he is alerting us...to inadequacies in our idea
of the theatrical rendition of the world, of the way the world aesthetically is represented in
the conventional theaterw("ThreeStages of 'A Doll House"' 311). "Once we have recognized
this," he continues "we are ready for the extension of h ~ method
s in the next play." While
Johnston writes of Ibseds dramatic method, his concept must be extended to the leitmotiv of
each work as well. In this case, however, Ibsen alerts us to the inadequacies of our ethos--
our a d u d rendition of the world. Each play prepares us for the extension of its theme in
the next.
Of great concern to the playwright was the imbalance of power at the core of the
generative/sexual relationship and the far-reaching consequences of this inequity. His
exploration of this concern is manifest throughout his oeuvre, but never so enigmatically as
in "A ~ 0 1~1o u s e ,"Ghosts,"
" and "Hedda Gabler." Throughout these three works Ibsen explores
not only the imbalance of power within the patriarchal institution of marriage, but, more
particularly, the female desire for power as a consequence of this inequity. Through the
triad of Nora, Mrs. Alving, and Hedda we come to a full understanding of their individual and
collective oppression. Each possesses "an active and energeticmind," and each seeks some
portion of power to compensate for the freedom they can never possess as a result of their
gender. And yet, while the women are nothing alike, they are sister, mother, daughter to each
other.
Where the triad begins triumphantly, with Nora slamming the door on her oppression, it
completes with the sterile, destructive moment of truth: a pregnant woman--a madonna of sorts,
that most revered of symbols to patriarchal ideologies--shooting herself in the head. And yet
Hedda, in all her misery, with the child in her womb, is the future. The gesture is defiant,
yet Hedda functions not from defiance, but defeat. The message is clear: the generative/sexual
relationship based on power can only vitiate itself in its perpetuation of sterility, rather
than fecundity; destruction rather than creation.

.-.
lll
For m y m o t h e r , my sister, and m y daughter
 Page 2

..because of Freud's blindness to the nature of inequality

the heart of the sexual relationship he left unexplored
sickness at the heart of this relationship, and so could
perceive the immense social consequences that flow from
Serious distortion or repression in this relationship
t well have the most far-reaching consequences both for
nature itself and the total culture that it produces.
r all, it is this relationship which is the source of
life. It is not reasonable to suppose that
ilibrium and inequality at this juncture could escape
consequences for the development of character in
who inside the family receive their first and most
I impressions- (13)

to the nineteenth-century social

1 and his The Subjection of Women for
the power politics within the sexual
relationship.' He notes that the strength of Mill's thesis

'~ndeed, Sampson is not alone in this regard--psychoanalyst, Robert

Seidenberg calls for a turning to Mill over Freud for what he terms
nthe heuristic statement about the problems of women in our
civilizationw (Baker 306). Kate Millett notes: "...Mill's psychology
is grounded in a more lucid distinction between prescription and
description than one encounters for example, in Freud, and a more
intelligent grasp of the effects of environment and circumstan~e'~
fvicinus 127),
 Page 3

relationship has effects which ramify into every aspect of

the life of society. The thesis is that the existing
marital relationship is one of subordination of the female
to the male; that such a relationship is morally
indefensible; that this moral defect is the lfons et origol
of all the moral deficiencies of the greater society; and
- -

that until it is remedied and put on a basis of complete

equality, it will be vain to look for any appreciable
measure of human advancement in other spheres, (96)

Mill's understanding of the far-reaching problems inherent

in the sexual relationship is indeed profound, Where Freud
dismisses the inequality at the centre of the most basic of human
relationships as anatomically derived, Mill perceives this
inequality as the primary obstacle to the furtherance of
civilization. Mill states:

2 ~ n
Sexual Politics, Kate Millett states: What forces in [a womanls]
experience, her society and socialization have led her to see herself
as an inferior being? The answer would seem to lie in the conditions
of patriarchal society and the inferior position of women within this
society. But Freud did not choose to pursue such a line of reasoning,
preferring instead an etiology of childhood experience based upon the
bialogical fact of anatomical differences, ...
it is supremely
unfortunate that Freud should prefer to bypass the more likely social
hypothesis to concentrate upon the distortions of infantile
subjectivity ..."
(180). However, Freud criticized Mill's analysis for
what he considered to be a failure to acknowledge inherent
temperamental differences between the sexes,
 Page 4

That the principle which regulates the existing social

relations between the two sexes--the legal subordination of
e sex to the other--is wrong in itself, and now one of the
ef hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to
replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no
or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the

as pointing out the "far-reaching consequencesB1of this

ble power distribution, Mill illuminates the immediate
ces: a female desire for power, however spurious the
wer may be, as a psychic consequence of the
on/submission model of marriage. Mills notes:

An active and energetic mind, if denied liberty, will seek

ower: refused the command of itself, it will assert its
ality by attempting to control others. To allow to
an beings no existence of their own but what depends
on others, is giving far too high a premium on bending
others to their purposes. Where liberty cannot be hoped
for, and power can, power becomes the grand object of human
desire. (578)

More than a century later, Sampson translates Hill's ideas into

psychoanalytic terms, noting that:
 Page 5

harmful effects the character....The

up in this wa
absence of fr will be the
by birth the
males will seek

ealth, genuine
ty can only be

sary compe

a1 stability.

lves, f 100-2)

the first to articulate his dis-

eenth century model of marriage, he
st, Among others, nineteenth-century
Ibsen joined in the protest,
 Page 6

employing his own brand of social drama to illuminate the

profound consequences of the traditional marriage. Eva Le
m e writes:

e theme.,-that interested Ibsen most was. ..that of the

erent ethical codes by which men and women live. ...
n was accused of being an enemy to the "sacred ties of
age." People could not understand that he believed it
t be based on spiritual communion--mere tllivingtogetherw
not enough. He felt that a man and a woman should,
ally, go through life together as perfect equals, in
fect honesty, free to develop--each in his own way into a
lete human entity. (xiv-v)

ed, his notebooks resound with passages such as:

A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day,

which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed
by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine
conduct from a masculine point of view. (Ibsen, From Ibsen's
Workshop 91)
-.*

3~ro~ically, though Ibsen was a great admirer of Mill's Norwegian

translator, Georg Brandes, (who himself was a great admirer of Mill),
Ibsen found Hill tedious, (Meyer 345)
 Page 7

These women of the present day, ill-used as daughters, as

sisters, as wives, not educated according to their gifts,
prevented from following their inclination, deprived of
their inheritance, embittered in temper--it is these who
furnish the mothers of the new generation. What is the
result? (Ibsen, From IbsenisWorkshop 185)
- 0 -

A mother in modern society...[is] like certain insects who

go away and die when she has done her duty in the
propagation of the race, (Ibsen, From IbsenlsWorkshop 91)

Indeed, women--particularly wives and mothers--are a marked

presence within his oeuvre, My discussion will confine itself to
his domestic dramas, in particular A Doll House, Ghosts, and
Eeddzi G a b l e r , These plays have been singled out for various
reasons: within each there exists a central character whose main
function is that of wife and, additionally, is or will soon
become that of mother; within each the theme of marriage is
central; within each the action is confined to one or two rooms
within the home of the central character; each comes close to
respecting the unity of time--indeed, we are witness not to the
events of which the various stories are made, but rather to the
denouement of each, While each of these features is important
and will be discussed as it proves pertinent, what is of
 Page 8

particular importance to my discussion of these three plays is

Ibsen's interest in the female quest for power as an immediate
consequence of the patriarchal institution of marriage.

readily apparent structure of A Doll House presents a

sed in an oppressive relationship with a dominating
in turn hands her over to an oppressive relationship
inating husband, Her children will perpetuate the
'
t as she is perpetuating it. Less obvious within the
ructure is Nora's desire for power, however apocryphal
may turn out to be, as a consequence of her
f Ghosts, written immediately after A Doll House,
I'I had to write Ghosts. I couldnlt stop at A Doll
fter Nora I had to create Mrs. ~lving"(Meyer 490). Mrs.
like Nora, enters an oppressive marriage and attempts,
, to leave it, unlike Nora, Mrs. ~lvingis forced
r marriage and in a potent rage puts every ounce of
o securing absolute power over her dissolute husband.
Hedda Gabler is a strange case. Of her, Ibsen wrote, "There lies
deep poetry at the bottom of Heddals nature...She wants to lead a
man's lifem (Jacobs, 427) . Hedda longs not for the spurious
power of Nora Helmer, nor the genuine, yet female power of Mrs.
~lving. Hedda longs only for what she perceives as the genuine
article: male power. Hedda's desire for power is not derived
from her participation in a marriage marked by domination and
Page 9
 Page 10

Chapter 1
"My Secret Joyw:
Female Power and Subversion in A Doll House

l House is about money,

~ o l 's Elizabeth Hardwick tells
out the way it turns locks" (40). There is something to
words, but something missing as well. A Doll House is
, but only insofar as money is inextricable from power
economically-powered society. At its heart the play is
thing and one thing only: power--the distribution of
getting and holding of it; the exchange of it; and
relinquishment of it. Torvald holds various kinds
er Nora: the ideological power of the patriarch
from culture. tradition, and religion; the legal power of
over wife; the economic power of the family breadwinner;
of physical strength over physical weakness; and,
en the power of gratitude--for was it not Torvald who
Is beloved father, and therefore Nora herself, from

~R.v. Sampson defines power as follows: "By power is meant the

production of desired consequences in the behaviour or belief of
another, where the intent to exercise personal ascendancy is present
in the one producing the effects. Motive is all important, although
the motive may be unconscious. Usually the victim of another's power
will be aware of at least some sense of psychic constraint. But this
is not necessarily the case. The victim may have long since come to
accept her position and regard it as natural1*( 2 3 3 ) .
 Page 12

are issued by Nora, the more playful of the two, towards

Torvald. Nora refers to Torvald only by his Christian name--a
name which, incidentally, bears an endless tradition of
divinely-sanctioned male power: the name llTorvaldlp
is derived
from the Old Danish, llThorvalldr,ll
meaning *'Thorlspowertt(Yonge
301). Within Scandinavian mythology, Thor was the central God
and connected very closely with the family dwelling. In
scandinavian Mvtholosv, H.R. Ellis Davidson notes:

...the high seat pillars ...where the head of the family

...would sit, were sacred to the god. They appear to have
represented the guardian tree of the family house, which, in
turn was the symbol for the luck of the family and its
continuation, a symbol which has lived on in Scandinavian
and Germany up to modern times. ... The cult of Thor was
linked up with men's habitations and possessions, and with
the well-being of the family and the community. (71)

Thus, Torvaldls very name invokes the ideology of the

patriarchy--a power, endorsed by tradition and religion,
translated into law, and awarded to the family patriarch simply
by virtue of his s e x . Further, Torvald is not named merely for
the god, but for the power the god wields--a power that held
particular significance for men and their possessions and
 Page 13

inual use of seemi ul epithets when

is significan ords replace

her status

rn for the s

lade

words to her
that it is more than enough--but a demonstration of his power
nonetheless. The economic power he wields is unmistakable--the
exchange is fraught with Torvaldls complete control of the family
pursestrings: he gives her money, but balks when she spends it.
The implication is that the money, even after it has been given,
never becomes hers; she must justify its expenditure, even for
necessities. Torvald is drawn from his study not because he
 Page 15

r the opportunity to
ic power. Ironic

ics--an entirely male

gh economic
 Page 16

forming the wf ds: she fumbles at his coat buttons and cannot:
look him in the eye. certainly, the money will go to the
moneylender Krogstad, but there is something contained in the
subtext of Nora's request: money represents power within their
marriage--lorvald has established that over and over again. Her
request for a gift of money (to be differentiated from money to
be spent on housekeeping and carefully accounted for to her
husband) is equal to a request for a share in the power
distribution of the relationship. Though Nora's upbringing and
marriage have left her bereft of any expectation of equality
within her marriage, a part of her cries out for it. Torvald
throws Nora verbal crumbs of equality with his various
proclamations: tlWefve
made a brave stand up to now, the two of
us,, . (126); "So we '11 share [whatever comes], Nora, as man and

wife. That's as it should be" (161), but his words are hollow,
and Nora's sense of his insincerity forces her to seek a share in
the power distribution through subversive means.

The various kinds of power that Torvald wields over his

wife, though oppressive to Nora's psyche, are minor in comparison
to the principal power he wields over her and subtly taunts her
with whenever the occasion arises, and indeed, even when it does
not. Nora is indebted to Torvald for the saving of her cherished
father's reputation. Though Nora may be inclined to forget this
power, Torvald, most certainly, is not. Indeed, this power is
 Page 17

power that Torvald held over his skylark and his

invariably comes when Nora asserts herself. The
her father comes during the initial exchange
uring Act I. Though the audience is not yet
lvement in salvaging Nora's father's
t the reference is profound. Immediately
est for a gift of money (which, as set out
ed as a small bid for a share in the
relationship), Torvald attempts to
cussion in this area and thwart future
referring to her father and, with it,
ower over Nora :

ne. Exact ather was.

5~obinYoung suggests that there is evidence that Torvald was forced

out of his Ministry position and has "come close to professional ruinw
himself because of his past dealings with Nora's father: What Torvald
has done, it seems, is to enter some kind of exculpatory report
('turned a blind eyef) then resigned his post and married the
offender's daughterM (77).
 Page 18

Torvaldlsnext reference to Nora's father comes during an

argument in which Nora is displaying what Torvald calls "the most
incredible stubbornne~s.~Again, Torvald wishes to close out the
on and refers to "the old memories.** Since a reference
father does not belong in this discussion, Nora naturally
understand his meaning; he must be more specific: "Of
you're thinking about your fathern (159). Nora
ly becomes more submissive and indeed, even refers to
of gratitude to her husband:

all right. Just remember how those nasty gossips wrote

the papers about papa and slandered him so cruelly. I
think they'd have had him dismissed if the department hadn't
ent you up to investigate, and if you hadn't been so kind
and open-minded to him. (159-60)

Nora, in fact, uses Torvaldlsreference to influence her

husband, referring to his kindness in the past. But Torvald has
no need for exhibiting "kindness and open-mindednessv to gain
power over his wife--he has it already. Instead, he employs a
form of emotional blackmail when he tells Nora: "Your father's
career was hardly above reproach. But mine is,.." (160). The

subtext is just this: Your father w a s g u i l t y , but I saved h i m .

For t h i s reason, you must concede to me. Torvald again refers to
continues to insist. replying, "Aren't I your husband?Ii (1831,
the implication being that certain r i g h t s belong to him and w i l l
be exercised at his discretion only,

Yet Nora accepts this power of physical strength over

physical weakness as much as she accepts TorvaldYs ideological
and economic power--indeed, she even perpetuates it as is evident
in the Christmas gifts she brings for the children. For the boys
she brings a sword, a horse, and a trumpet--instruments
associated with battle and therefore physical violence and
oppression; for her daughter, she brings a doll and a
dollbed--the instruments of wife- and motherhood, and therefore,
within the context of the nineteenth century models of these
institutions, of submission. "And so cheap!" she tells her
husband. Certainly, she means the toys are inexpensive, but they
are cheap in a deeper sense also: they express a cheapness of
thought, of upbringing. Ironically, Torvaldis accusations during
the final. act that Nora is unfit to raise their children are
correct, but for reasons diametrically opposed to those he
gives. Torvald has little to do with the raising of the
children; it is Nora who, through her children, will perpetuate
the cycle of powerful men and powerless women. In his notebooks,
Ibsen expressed his dissatisfaction with the nineteenth century

anode1 of motherhood:
 Page 21

These women of the present day, ill-used as daughters, as

sisters, as wives, not educated according to their gifts,
prevented from following their inclination, deprived of
their inheritance, embittered in temper--it is these who
furnish the mothers of the new generation. What is the
result? (Ibsen, From IbsenlsWorkshop 185)

The result is that Nora and Torvaldlschildren will be brought up

in the same way their parents have been. Nora thinks no further
-
than what she has experienced through her own upbringing, and
this is what makes her gestures so effortless, so cheap. She has
been brought up to accept her powerlessness; her daughter will be
brought up in the same way. Her sons, by virtue of their sex,
will be awarded power, the cultural basis for which originates in
their superior physical strength which Nora reinforces with her
gifts of war. As Mill notes, '#Lawsand systems of
polity ...convert what was a mere physical fact [female muscular
inferiority] into a legal right, give it the sanction of society,
and principally aim at the substitution of public and organized
means of asserting and protecting these rights, instead of the
irregular and lawless conflict of physical strengtht1(475). In
effect, the boys are internalizing the I1merephysical factw
[through, among other things, the war toys given to them by their
 Page 22

mother) of their sex into what will become, as they mature and
become husbands and fathers, their "legal rightN under the
C

"present system."

The toys which Nora gives to her daughter are not, in

themselves, necessarily indications of Nora's perpetuation of a
cycle of oppression. They are merely a doll and a dollbed, but
Nora says of them, "...they're nothing much, but she'll tear them
t o b i t s in no time anywayw (127) [my emphasis]. Implicit in the
violence of this remark is Nora's own frustration at her
powerlessness and, in turn, the powerlessness and oppression
under which her daughter will inevitably suffer. Indeed, Nora
uses this expression several more times throughout the play to
indicate her psychic tension. At the beginning ~f Act two, Nora
says of the masquerade clothes which represent the frenetic
playacting she's been made to perform to gain favours from her
love to rip them in a million pie~es!~'(154). Only
husband, vfIvd
moments later she says of the promissory note, once her "secret
joyw and now only a reiteration of her powerlessness at the hands
of male power, "And [I] can rip it into a million pieces and burn
it up--that filthy scrap of paper! If (158) . And finally, during
the closing scene, when Nora's frustration at the powerlessness
she has endured throughout her marriage is at its peak, she says,
"1 could tear myself to bitsn (195). Though, in her assumption
that her daughter will tear the doll and dollbed to bits, Nora
Page 24
 Page 26

take out a loan. But at that, Kristine, he nearly

exploded. He said I was frivolous, and it was his duty as a
man of the house not to indulge me in whims and fancies--as
I think he called them. Aha, I thought, now youlll just
have to be saved--and that's when I saw my chance. [italics
mine] (136)

Within Nora1s words, the all-powerful Torvald is easily

perceived: the young wife is overruled by the "man of the houseN
whose duty is "not to indulge [her] in whims and fanciest1(136) .
Nora's I1chancefWas she calls it, is the opportunity to deceive
her husband (and, in fact, to justify her deception) in arder to
gain power over him--to, in a sense, retaliate againat the man
who calls her frivolous; who calls her honourable intentions
"whims and fancies." She has attempted the route of
submission--the cajoling, the begging, the crying-all of the
things that have made her realize her powerlessness. With his
flat refusals she has no choice but to do anything she can to
save him. Her "chancew is her chance at power within the
relationship. Nora, a woman of what Mill would term, "an active
and energetic mind," must find an outlet for her year of
oppression.
 st have thought only:
i c e , and: how get the money,
ather's knee,
was turned down
en s h e does

Nora not
 Page 28

Freud would have called a "slip of the pen.w6 Nora forges her
father's name as guarantor on her promissory note--a note which
she has promised to pay out in full. The forged signature is
s, but the date appears to be in another hand, written
ly," and indicates that the endorsement of the note
hree days after the signatory's death. The
ss of the forged endorsement indicates her overt
to patriarchal power--a power which decrees that "a
borrow without her husband s consent" (135); the
the dating process indicates her unconscious
toward the power of the father. Further, in misdating
aims the transaction as entirely her own--if and
gery is discovered, the date is her insurance policy
ne else claiming responsibility for it. Torvald
, "You could not have done this without the help of
(in effect taking a share in the responsibility by
to the patriarchy) because she has proof that she
 Page 30

Tell me, Doctor--is everyone who works in the bank dependent

now on Torvald?
- 0 .

Yes, that's really immensely amusing: that we--that Torvald

has so much power now over all those people. (140)

Nora's slip of the tongue reveals her intention: just as,

through Krogstad, she has secret power over Torvald; through
Torvald she now has secret power over Krogstad. Ironically,
Nora's power, like her hostility, is entirely passive (and thus,
contradicts itself): she has no more intention of making use of
her power over Krogstad than she has ever had of making use of
her power over Torvald. The central importance to Nora's power
is the empowerment it gives her: she can tolerate Krogstad's cold
demands for the money she desperately scrapes together each
quarter by quietly fantasizing that she holds this horrid man's
livelihood and reputation in her power--again, the power involves
economics and honour,

Nora is elated at what she bslieves is her sudden and

unexpected monopoly of the power market--she has power over each
of the two men who have previously held her in their power. That
her power is secret seems not to concern her--she defiantly eats
macaroons openly and tells Dr. Rank and Mrs. Linde, ''Now there's
 Page

the world that I have an enormous desire

Her desire? To tell her husband lVto hell and be damnedw

nation but
n the decorous

r violate the good

of expressing the
 Page 3 2

.,,Torvald, with all his masculine pride--how painfully

humiliating for him if he ever found out he was in debt to
me, That would just ruin our relationship. Our beautiful,
happy home would never be the same.
.*.
...maybe sometime, years from now, when I s m no longer so
attractive,.,when he stops enjoying my dancing and dressing
up and reciting for him. Then it might be wise to have
something in reserve. (136-7)

Consciously, Nora has worked out the unfolding of her

secret: it will be kept until her sexual power wears itself out,
after which she may reveal her ace in the hole- Yet Nora does
not behave like a woman who holds power over her husband in any
way. In fact, her frenetic posing and playacting appear to
reveal a woman whose only power lies in her sexuality. She
convinces herself that this "femalew power is merely a
facade--what she wants Torvald to believe: he may call her
he may scold her and treat her
"scatterbraint*and dtspendthrifttt;
like a child; she may resort to complicated manipulations and
maneuverings to gain his attention; but none of this matters-it
is all an act which sfre readily performs.
 Page 34

n Mrs. Linde asks Nora how much of her debt she has paid
a tells her, "That's hard to say, exactly. These
s you know, aren't easy to figure, I only know that I've
all I could scrape togetherN (137). One would assume

an who has devoted as much energy as Nora has into

ether quarterly payments would know to the crown the
f her debt, but Nora is rather unconcerned in this
Her concern lies only in paying off enough each quarter
debt secret. The debt in itself is meaningless to
meaning lies only in the power its concealment gives

ther, her obligation to make payments on the debt reveals

a world she would not have access to but for the debt.
esponsibilities; she must find ways to earn money
copying, working late into the night. And
Linde, *-,,it was wonderful fun, sitting and
ng like that, earning money. It was almost like being a
mann (137)- Nora's deed seems to garner power for her from all

quarters. Not only ltoes she gain secret power over her husband
~ ~ the g h transaction and the secrecy surrounding it,
original
she ertperiences personal empowerment through the repayment of the
debt. Through working and earning money Nora secretly breaks out
af the doll-mold: she is capable of taking care of herself.
 Page 36

attraction can be located within the extreme need he has for

her--his need becomes her power base. Just as Nora calls her
covert power her "secret joy," Kristine calls the power that
she's known by working to support someone else (in essence, the
power of economic dependency) her "best and only joy." "To work
for yourself, she says, 'Ithere1sno joy in that. I1No j o y " can
only mean, in this context, Ifno power.f1 Only moments before this
-

exchange Krogstad has asked her to "step asiden in her position

and allow him to keep his employment. "No," she tells him,
"because that wouldn't benefit you in the slightestw (177). Her
--

intention, it seems, is to continue in the position that once

belonged to Krogstad and support his family from this position.
Thus, she will not only possess economic power over the family,
but the power of gratitude owed to her as the saviour of a
"half-drowned man, hanging onto a wreckf1(177).lo While Krogstad
will retain the ideological power awarded to him on the basis of
his gender, Kristine will assume both economic power and power
over his reputintion within the relationship. Hope for their
relationship runs high if only for the reason that they launch
their relationship from an equal power base. Further, they have
loved each other. Had they been married when they were first in

l o ~ o uSalomevs contention that Mrs. Lindels motive in seeking a

partnership with Krogstad is I1to be used up in service to others, to
bring warmth and happiness and comfortvt(48) lacks credence when one
considers that Kristine has refused to give up her position at the
bank for Krogstad.
 y any illusions Nora might hold regarding the influence her
sexual power allows her with his terse reply: ItComeon, she does
that anyway.

Torvald's dismissive remark crystallizes the truth of Nora's

powerlessness. On an unconscisus level, Nora understands her
position, but her frenetic maneuverings hide the truth at least
as much from herself as from her husband, Her powerlessness and
oppression have atomized her psyche: she functions on various
levels in the only way the disempowered female can. Where
Torvaldvssecurity regarding his power position allows him linear
functioning, Nora's equivocal feelings regarding her
disempowerment force her to respond to any one situation with a
variety of responses. Within the space of a few lines, Nora's
position can change radically, as evidenced by her conversation
with Krogstad regarding the power she holds over her husband:

Nora : Oh, one does have a tiny bit of influence, I should

hope. Just because I am a woman, don't think it means
that-- ...
Torvaldrs initial reaction is to the fact that his wife has
managed, even under his persistent and unrelenting guard, to
secure a portion sf his power. Further, she has cavalierly
passed a portion of this power on to a man who would threaten his
praf&siornl power as ~ell--~'I'min a cheap little grafter's
hahds; he can do anything he wants with me, ask for anything,
play with me like a puppet--and I can't breathe a wordw (188). A
loss of power is unbearable to Torvald. A loss of power at the
hands of his wife is anathema, Nora's actions, therefore,
constitute high treason within the kingdom of his doll house.

In his rage, Torvald resorts to a show of power in its most

primitive form--with physical force: he locks the door, holds her
back, and berates her. Further, he refers to the source of his
primary power over Nora--her father's reputation: "...All of your
father's flimsy values have come out in you, No religion, no
morals, no sense of duty-- Oh, how I'm punished for letting him
off! I did it for your sake and you repay me like this" (187).
He immediately begins a reorganization of their life based on the
fact that Nora is capable of high treason:
 Page 44

her divergent purposes and lets her see that she is

Vear[ing] [her]self to bits. It In walking away from the
marriage, she does the only thing she can to begin the process of
pulling herself together. Further, she halts the perpetuating
cycle of powerless women and powerful men into which she has
fallen. Her children will not be party to the power struggle
that their parents1 marriage tried so hard to disguise because
-

Nora will walk away from them to prevent it.

Thus, when Torvald ttforgiveslt

his Itfrightened little
songbirdn Nora understands the subtext of his forgiveness and
will have none of it. Torvaldispromise of redoubled protection
and repetitive forgiveness translate to redoubled vigilance
toward protecting his power monopoly and repetitive reiterations
of her transgression. Indeed, Torvald has access to a further
avenue of power over Nora through what he perceives as her
transgression, and one cannot doubt that, given the opportunity,
he will use it in the same way he has used her father's
transgression to secure a further powerhold in the past. As
ill-equipped as she is for any other life, clearly Nora, a woman
who, for eight long years, has invested the essence of her very
being into securing some small bit of power for herself, a woman
of "an active and energetic mind," cannot tolerate this kind of
future with Torvald. Neither will she tolerate it for her
children, Nora is heroic, not in selflessly saving her husband's
 Page 4 5

n i c h e f o r h e r s e l f as

ng t h e h o r r o r of a

s heroic i n
 Page 46

Chapter 2
"The unquenchable power that was in himw:
emale Rage and the Appropriation of Male Power in Ghosts

osts, written immediately after A Doll" House, Ibsen

had to write Ghosts- I couldn't stop at A Doff's
r Nora I had to create m s . Alvingm (Neyer 490). Mrs.
in essence, the Nora who did not leave; the Nora of
arousm German production of 1880 who falls to her knees
ight of her sleeping children. Like Nora, Mrs. Alving is
possessed of an "active and energetic mindm (Mill, 578)
by virtue of her gender, is denied the liberty of that
arly in her life Mrs. Alving, again like N o r a , enters an
ve marriage and attempts, after one year, to leave it,
ora, Mrs- Alving is forced back into her marriage and, in
rage, puts every ounce of energy into securing absolute
r her dissolute husband. Where Nora's psyche has been
the process of keeping her power secret, Mrs.
ingBsrage focuses her psyche into the single-minded pursuit
of her goal: complete and total power. Her task is much easier
than Nora's--her husband does not keep the close watch that
Nora's does over his patriarchal power. The young Captain Alving
had been, as Mrs, A l v i n g herself admits, little more than a child
 Page 4 7

r t of t h e i r marriage-- child w i t h t h e power

class male by of his gender, social
 Page 48

The play opens ten years after the death of Captain Alving.
Mrs. Alving has had ten long years to reflect on her reign of
power and further to reflect on the sacrifice she has made to it:
she has given up the opportunity to mother her true son, Osvald.
With the return of her now adult son and the knowledge that,
through the venereal disease her son has inherited from his
profligate father, he will soon return to an infant-like state of
helplessness, Mrs. Alving must choose between love for her son
and complete power over him. If she chooses love, she will
perform the task Osvald has set out for her: she will administer
a Iarge enough dose of morphine to put him out of his misery, If
she chooses power, she will override Osvald's request and spend
the remainder of her life taking care of him--exerting the
complete power of the mother over the infant. Her past has
taught her to value power over love, but her relationship with
her now adult son has taught her the value of love. The curtain
comes down before her choice has been made.

The play opens with a scene between Mrs. Alving's maid,

Regina E31gstrand, and her father. Though the audience has not
yet been introduced to Mrs. Alving, the scene is effective in
offering the audience a mini-version of the events that occurred
 Page 4 9

efuses to go r profligate
nd (in this case

ghosts of the
 Page 50

As Regina, as representative of the young Mrs. Alving,

leaves the stage, the mature Mrs. Alving enters. The scene that
follows between Mrs. Alvinq and Pastor Manders illustrates the
events that have effectively changed the young wilful wife into
the self-actualized widow that Helen Alving appears to be. And
yet, the events are invariably inverted--we find out about Mrs.
in the face of patriarchal authority she backs down:

Manders : I've read quite enough about these writings

to disapprove of them.
Mrs. Alving: Yes, but your own opinion--
Manders : My dear Mrs. Alving, there are many
circumstances in life where one has to entrust
oneself to others. That's the condition of this
world, it's all for the best. How else could
society function?
Mrs. Alving: That's true; maybe you're right.

Though Mrs. Alving knows that Manders' argument against the

offending books lacks substance since he has no true knowledge of
their contents, and further that one must never bfentrustoneself
to othersb1 (214), she retreats from the argument in defeat. The
event prefigures Mrs. ~lving'sconcession to Mandersl inane
argument against insuring the orphanage. This is where her
cowardice lies--her past has been dictated by entrusting herself
to others; she has come to understand that her biggest mistake
has been, as she herself notes, "1 never really listened to
myselfn (235), and yet when put to the test, she hasn't the
courage of her convictions. Both incidents prefigure the play's
concluding scene wherein Mrs. Alving must make a decision based
on what will be perceived as morally right by the society she
 Page 55

to her son that she managed to extinguish the " j o y of

her husband, but what she does not admit is that had she
ain would invariably have expunged her joy of
erning spirit of willfulne~s.~She was, merely,
power struggle that was their marriage. In
cusations, Mrs. Alving calmly explains the
Mr. Manders, now 1'11 tell you the
at one day you were going to h e x
old friend (228) . Though her
husband's life comes ostensibly as a
e behaviour Manders has challenged, the
eals a certain pride. His accusations
e, yet she has sworn that 'lone day"
. The implication is that in her secret
d herself with the thought that the man who
he extent of her gifts--that she
le "Court Chamberlain.

to Manders, was as dissolute after

as he had been before. Her life with him was a
"constant battlew until she discovered his indiscretion with her
servant, after which she "had a weapon against himw (230). Until
her discovery of the indiscretion, the power struggle between
husband and wife had been meaningless since Captain Alving had
held all the true power in the relationship: the small amount of
 Page 56

sexual power she held by virtue of her age and gender amounted to
little beside the ideological power accorded him by virtue of his
, social class, and financial status. The power she
in leaving the marriage (similar to the power Nora holds
lams the door during the final scene of A Doll House) was

out by the fact that she returned, in essence, a

woman. Not only had he full possession of male power,
sed the knowledge that she could not leave him for she
e else to go--this had already been proven. For a
essed of "an incorrigible spirit of willf~lness,~~
a
can ttnever...bear the least constraint," the situation
iably, have been intolerable. The incident she
between her husband and her maid could only have come
ing to Mrs. Alving.

Just as Nora bides her time for her chance at power, so,
too, does Mrs. Alving. Just as Nora tells her friend, tt...thatts
when I saw my chance," (136) so Mrs. Alving tells Manders, 'INOW,
you see, I had a weapon against himtt(230). But where Nora's
desire for a small portion of power had come out of only one
short year of powerlessness within a marriage to a man she loved,
Mrs. Alvingls desire for power came out of nine years of
oppression within a marriage to a man she despised. Her desire
was not for a small portion of power, but for total power. She
would exact revenge not only for her years of powerlessness but
 Page 57

for the rejection she experienced from Manders--the man who

forced her back into the intolerable marriage and gave her
husband further power with his rejection of her. She tells
Manders of her triumph:

.,:Then I swore to myself: that was the end! So I took

charge of the house--complete charge--over him and

everything else, Because now, you see, I had a weapon
against him; he couldn't let out a word of protest. It was
then I sent Osvald away- He was going on seven and starting
-

to notice things and ask questions, the way children do.

All that was too much for me, Manders. I thought the child
would be poisoned just breathing this polluted air. That's
why I sent him away- And now you can understand, too, why
he never set foot in this house as long as his father
lived- No one will know what that cost me. (230)

R u m the experience of mothering her infant son she learned

the only true power a woman of her society was able to possess:

the power of the mother over the infant--the power of life and
death- In choosing to conduct her relations on the basis of
power over that of love, she chose power over her husband over
love for her son. T h e instinctual feeling she possessed that her
child would be "poisonedm in the polluted atmosphere of the
Allving home came nut from the fact that he might witness her
 Page 58

husband's behaviour (Captain Alving was in her power now), but

from the fact that power had become the only commodity within the
household: her love for the child could be used against her and
d not risk her husband gaining a stronghold. That Alving
dy begun to use the child in the power struggle against
s evident in Osvald's only reminiscence of his father:

distinctly remember him taking me on his knee and

me smoke his pipe. Itsmoke,boy," he said, "smoke it
al!" And I smoked for all I was worth, till I felt
and the great drops of sweat stood out on
Then he shook all over with laughter--...
in and carried me off to the nursery. I
d I could see you were crying. Did father
play such tricks? (226)

Her true child, Osvald, was sent away so that all her energies
could be expended on the control of the man she would turn into a
child. Further, in gaining complete control over the man who had
once held her mercilessly in his power she, as a consequence,
gained access to his male power. Where he had tried to suck the
%pirit of willfulnesss1from her and failed, she would succeed in

sucking the Itjoyof life* from him, Further, she would make it
 Page 59

His work--which he had apparently performed somewhat

tten through it if it hadn't been for

worked, I can tell you, All the
all the improvements and

those were his doing? He, sprawled all

reading old government journals!
- No, I can
as I who got him moving whenever he
and it was I who had to pull the
in his old wild ways or
misery. (230)

joy of work that

an infant-like

eir support of the patriarchy and

 Page 60

gender inherent poEer. 4

And yet, to attribute Hrs. Alvinglsthirst for power

vely to the years she spent in her oppressive marriage is
ook one of the basic aspects of her personality. Though

iage would accentuate her need to control, one might

that the characteristic existed prior to her
e. She tells her son that his father, when she married
little mare than a "child--...he was a child then,
Her further admission to Manders that Captain Alving was
a "fallen manss at their wedding might indicate that his
on lay not only in his fortune, but in his dissipation as

at might be construed as an attraction to infantile men

and a trend towards further infantalizing them is reinforced by
her relationship with Pastor Manders. Manders possesses the
te of an infant, and yet he takes pride in it,

%&a Zeineddine points out that Vbsen relates newspapers to an

attitude of corruption and debauchery in which Lieutenant Alving
lies on the sofa and reads an 'old government gazette1. But the
artist in Oswald, who advocates the free marriage and sunshine in
artistic circles abroad while criticizing 'our model husbands and
fathers*, *crumples a newspaper1, presumably because he sees in
it: forged values and forged relationsH (41).
'~n fact. the hasic need to control may have been learned at her
xaatherCsknee as evidenced by Mrs. Alving's offhand remark that
it was her mother and two aunts who promoted her marriage to
Alvhg*
 Page 61

d-like innocence. He

that he is "s

, so too came the

r husband, she no longer had

ower of the mother over the
 Page 62

,,,The sums I've contributed year after year to the

orphanage add up to just the amount--I've figured it out

exactly--just the amount that made Lieutenant ~ f v i n gsuch a
good catch at the time.
 Page 64

his illegitimate daughter, and a collection of orphans, a large

number of whom will have been born out of a relationship similar
to that of Captain Alving and Mrs. Engstrand. Further, she asks
Pastor Manders to bless the symbolic separation of the Alvings
just as, twenty-nine years before, he blessed their union. Her
only regret, one might imagine, is that she cannot turn back the
clock on her son--she can never regain her son's lost childhood.
--

Strangely, her perverse vision will soon be accommodated even in

this. One is oddly reminded of Halvard Solness, The Master
Builder, whose visions invariably become his reality.

Yet even within her unconscious reconstruction of the past

Mrs. Alving remains a coward, The respectability that surrounds
the symbolic llseparationw
again belies the truth. A home for
orphaned children seems hardly the place for a soul as profligate
as Captain Alving's. Somehow the angry ghost of Captain Alving
seems to walk the halls of Rosenvold and take his revenge any way
he can. His spirit inhabits his son who cannot seem to work; who
sits around all day drinking wine, smoking cigars and his
father's pipe, and who seduces Regina, the housemaid and only
available woman. The ghosts have dug their heels in and will not
be exorcised. It is as though, in order to purge the ghosts of
the past--not only of captain Alving, but of past ideologies and
traditions--Mrs. ~lvingmust first purge her own ghosts, the ones
that value power over love; the cowardly ones that hide the truth
 Page 66

enterprise becomes clear to her. She cannot reconstruct the past

precisely because, as Rolf Fjelde notes "...it is forever
unalterably, a frozen landscape of choices that can never be
revived and reversed..." (199). Fjelde continues:

Nothing can amend the eventual retribution of an evaded or

misguided choice in the past. This, his starkest of tragic
-

actions, concentrates its object lesson of horrors to put

the most urgent premium on the moment and the supreme worth
of choosing when it counts: right now, in the present, out
of the integrity of oneis whole being, in the light of an
unflinching regard for all the factors and circumstances
involved. f 199)

The money Mrs. ~ l v i n gset aside for the respectable "Captain

A l v i n g Memorial Home for Orphansnsfinds its way into Jacob

P;ngstrandis hands. With the money, Engstrand intends to open a

brothel of sorts for wayfaring seaman--a place he will call,
appropriately, "captain Alvingss Home.1f Regina follows, hoping
for a share in her father's legacy or, at the very least, she
tells Mrs. Alving, m...if things go really wrong.,.a house where
[shelffldo just fine, ,,, In 'Captain Alving's Homeu' (269).7

7~ike Nora, Regina, whose very name means power, slams the door
on an intolerable and oppressive existence, If she must take
prostitntion, she will take it on her own terms, not anyone
else's.
administer it: at the first sign of an attack, she is to give him

Further, in overriding her son's choice of death, she would

exert a further power over him--a power which would confine him
to perpetual infancy, similar to the power she once exerted over
her husband. However, where her husband was constrained within
the prison of his dissipation, her son will be imprisoned in his
illness. She is, in a sense, handed complete power by her son
with one condition attached: that she must give it up. Though
 Page 70

Chapter 3

G a b l e r seems, a t first blush, t o have little to do with t h i s

issue. Certainly, it seems that had Nora Helmer or Helene Alving

a husband alung the lines of George Tesman, t h e question of power
w i t h i n me relationship would not have been an issue. There is

no question of who holds the power i n the Hedda Gabler-George

Tesman union: it is Hedda from start t o f i n i s h . And yet Hedda

t from the other plays in Ibsen9s oeuvre. To reiterate:
mothers of the new generation. (185)
 Page 7 4

er and his domineering influence an Heddas (50). 3 In fact,

the portrait exists as representative of the long dead General
as an actual presence in the play. His presence is as
Heddatsown and, in fact, more real than the presence of
distracted husband. He lives in his portrait and in his
and, most profoundly, in Heddafsdissatisfaction and
The play is called, significantly, Hedda Gabler
a is an independent woman but because she is
erfs legacy and as unconnected to George Tesman as
anyone, She will never be other than Hedda Gabler
edda Gabler is her particular prison,

is conspicuous by her absence, While General

esides over every scene in the play and he is
frequently, Krs. Gabler receives not one mention.
assume that she died in childbirth or shortly
ng concrete to lead us to this
ied as Hedda will-by her own hand,
erely epitomizes Ibsen's concern with
nineteenth century mothers as reflected in his notes for A Doll

3 ~ e i m e d i n emakes the further point that "Because it is a visual

effect, it may be possible for the interpreter to relegate this
telling effect ta the background. To keep visualizing the
setting is to esncumitantly keep the thematic concern of Xbsen
clearly focused and to see the actions of the characters and o f
H e d d a , particularfy in relation to the image, as it were, of the
Eather* f 50) .
 Page 75

mother in society, like certain insects who

and die when she has done her duty in the propagation of
(Ibsen, From Ibsenls Worksho~, 91). In any event, we
nfcrrmation regarding her existence: she is a
From her non-presence we can infer that she provides
role model for her daughter.

eneral Gabfer we are told much. He was a general in the

which we can infer a love of law and order, an
o the ideology of the patriarchy, a belief in the
authority and brute force. Further, we understand that
held a highly respectable position in society.
elmer and Captain Alving, he enjoyed the power
the upper middle class male by virtue of his gender,
tion, and wealth. For our purposes, we must further
imilarity to Torvald Helmer and Captain Alving:
d of plays, Nora, Mrs. Alving and Hedda represent
ons of the female response to the all-powerful
re N o r a is the young matron experiencing the power
le of her marriage in the present, and Mrs. Alving, the
crone who re-examines her marriage of many years before, Hedda is
the product of these r==iages, We must, therefore, extend the
charil~terizatimsof Tervalld Heher, which we receive in the
flesh in A Doll House, and Captain Alving, which we receive
retrospectively in Ghosts, to General Gabler. Ibsen need not
 Page 76

offer a tedious retrospective of General Gablerlsrelationship

with his daughter; we understand the kind of man he is from
IbsenEsprevious characterizations of this type of man--he need
only offer the accoutrements: the portrait, the pistols, and the
title--all of which illustrate his love of power.

As his only child, Hedda has access to this power and learns
value it above all else. Further, her father raises her as he
raise a son. He teaches her what he knows: to ride and
ot like a man. We further sense that within his teachings is
lesson that, since there is no access to power for the
, all things female are worthless. Because of her unique
ing, Hedda cannot identify with the female world, which
has been misrepresented to her, and is forced to identify only
with a world in which she can never belong. She therefore
develops a masculine gender identity: the result is profound
self-hatred. Ibsen hints at this in his notes where he says of
Hedda, '*shewants to lead a man's lifeE1(Jacobs, 427). Not only
is Hedda trapped within her gender, she is trapped within a male
conception of her gender (derived, we might speculate, from
internalization of her father's conception of the female as
powerless). The result is that she stibscribes to a kind of
female misogyny--she cannot help but loathe her very existence.
And so she grows to adulthood, believing in her heart that the
only thing worth being is male and the only thing worth having is
 Page 77

Hedda is an ugly reality; manhood a beautiful ideal" (50).

Further, Hedda is confined not only by nineteenth century
definitions of womanhood, but by her own limited point of
reference: she understands the feminine (and therefore herself)
from a masculine perspective, as it were. Heddais masculine
gender identity explains her mortal dread of scandal. The
nineteenth century masculine defines the feminine by the degree
of propriety with which she is associated. There could be no
hint of scandal surrounding a woman since paternal identity was
difficult to prove and the primary function of a future wife was
as vessel for male progeny. Conversely, Thea, who has succeeded
in becoming "a human being,*$does not fear scandal after leaving
her husband since she does not define herself from a male and
therefore limited point of reference. Hedda conceives of herself
only as what she is not, never as what she is.

As unequipped as she is, when Hedda reaches that particular

age when women blossom, she is thrust suddenly into society to
avail herself of a husband. And yet, the ever resourceful Hedda
finds a way around the powerless female existence of wife- and
raotherhcrod, As a sexually attractive, socially prominent young
woman, Hedda enjoys no end of male attention and, with it, sexual
power over those who hold the male power she so envies. But her
power is fleeting: her sexual power rests entirely upon her
sexual attractiveness--a short-lived commodity in the life of an
tive female. Rtlther, with her father's death, she loses
his power. She has heen doubly betrayed by her father
m she learned to value only maleness and only the power
with maleness. Her gender disallows her from the
odity and his death disallows her access to the
And so, at the rather advanced age of twenty-nine, with
tance and no prospects, she has only two options: she
gn herself to spinsterhood (a clearly unacceptable
nce it would disallow her access to any male power) or
od. The choice is clear: at least as a wife Hedda will
over one man and access to his male power, and
he will retain the respectability to which she has
accustomed (for all her male aspirations, Hedda is no
She allows herself to be courted by George Tesman--a man
malleable and respectable; a man through whom she may
gain the financial and social power of the wife of a socially
prominent man, and she may even, perhaps, gain vicarious
political power. Hedda originally understands that George is
about to embark on a very promising and rather profitable career;
they have made a bargain to live in society and keep a "great
housem; he has promiced her a butler and a new riding horse; and
she believes Y i k e everyone else, that he [is] going to be quite

famous one dayn (725)- We sense, however, that Heddass vision

becomes tarnished very early in her short marriage to George
 Page 79

made the mistake of believing that George, in his

er as much as she does, when in fact, he
This much she has learned on her tedious
on arriving home, they learn that the
him is in jeopardy, their finances are
re is little hope of enjoying a large social
a new riding horse. She is further
vague hopes of a future political career for

--if I could get Tesman to go into

Tesman! No, I can promise you--politics

out of his fine.

ink it's really out of the question that

he could ever be a cabinet minister?
Brack : ...to be anything like that, he'd have to be fairly
wealthy to start with-
Hedda : (rising i f t t p t i e n t l y ) Yes, there it is! It's this
tight little world I've stumbled into--(Crossing the
room.) That's what makes life so miserable! So
utterly ludicrous! Because that's what it is. (729-30)
 Page 80

II She has access to none of the male power--political, financial,

social, or otherwise--she had envisioned. The only power she has
r an effeminate man she can barely tolerate--a man who has
interest in the male power she so covets. Indeed, when

Mrs. Elvsted if she has power over her husband, Hedda

with disgust, "Yes, what a bargain that was!" Hedda8s
e to her disappointment is antithetical to the response
ght expect from a nineteenth century matron pregnant with

st child, In an entirely male gesture, she eases her

ation through a show of physical power: she stands in the
f her father's pistols. In the same way that
s to a show of physical power when his
challenged, Iledda resorts to her pistols. They are
physical strength and her surrogate phallus--the male in
st basic fonu,

George Tesmangsupbringing has been vastly different from

Eeddars. Where she has been raised by a domineering,
authoritative male, George has been raised by two maiden aunts
and their devoted female servant in a home where love, rather
man power, was the ~afingprinciple. The aunts, significantly,
have never married and therefore have no experience in the power
politics involved in the nineteenth century domination/submission
model of marriage. From the aunts, George has learned to place
 Page I31

love and to gain satisfaction from pleasing the people

him. One senses that even his profession was chosen to
ts* expectations of him, Since he has been raised
Id where no value has been placed on power,
understanding of it. George concerns himself
with other people's happiness as with his
s out "with a touch of scorn," "Tesman always
ng about how people are going to make a livingt1
gh most critics dismiss George Tesman as
on of him as such is more because we see
than because of anything concrete.
ons contained in his dialogue--the
?"--indicate a willingness to please in
ct unanimous agreement as General Gabler no

'stein Haugom Olsen notes that "What is remarkable about Hedda

Gabler,-..is that in this play Ibsen calls into question the
faniliar Ibsenite values of lust for life, courage, defiance, and
sublimity. In Hedda Galer, these qualities are indistinguish-
able from Lovborgfs dissipation and debauchery, and Heddafs
cowardice, insensibility, and contempt. At the same time,
society is much more benign in H e d d a Gabler than in other plays
by Ibsen dealing with these themes. The immediate reaction of
the reader w i t h his Ibsen-specs on is to mumble that Tesman is
weak and insignificant, and to accept Heddals judgment of him.
But Hedda's judgement must be balanced by a proper appreciation
of Tesman's virtues and of the tesmanesque background against
which Hedda acts. ... Tesman provides the background necessary to
perceive the artistic point of Heddals status, values, and
att%tudesn (609-lQf .
 Page 82

Though each of Heddass relationships within the play are

marked by her desire to dominate, the Tesman family, of which she
is now a member, is completely oblivious to her power plays.
Indeed, before Hedda even comes on the scene we are made aware
through the initial exchange between Aunt Juliana and Berta of
to control every situation. Much like the opening scene
House where the power politics of the marriage are

ed, the opening scene of fiedda G a b l e r offers telling

into the motivations of the central character and her
Though Hedda has arrived home only very late the
evening, already the maid expresses distress that she
to her new mistress's liking since she is "so very
" (696). Further, she has been told by Hedda that
st be referred to as "Doctor Tesman" at all times though
Berta has known George since his childhood, We sense from the
exchange that Hedda treats Berta merely as a paid servant, not as

the Tesmans perceive her, which is as a beloved family retainer.

In her relationship with Berta, there is no question of who holds
the p o w e r as Berta is the servant and Hedda the mistress. Hedda
has no need to be polite to her, nor to manipulate her into doing
her will since she is responsible for Berta8s livelihood and will
therefore treat her as such.
a different ma der member of

t not consider

id for leaving the door

full well that Aunt Juliana
n some fresh air and sunlight.
ow such familiarity in her
ceding to Hedda and
 -

Page 84

volunteering to close the door. But this is not the response

Hedda expected and her reply' indicates an alarm that the
situation does not warrant: W o , no--don't! (To Tesman) There,
dear, draw the curtains. It gives a softer light" (703).

Hedda perhaps had expected Aunt Juliana to become

argumentative and the power struggle could escalate until Hedda
proved victorious. But Aunt Juliana has no understanding of this
power competition and her concession to Heddals will makes Redda
look petty and nitpicking, Hedda follows with a comment that the
room is in need of fresh air "with all these piles of flowersN
(7031, though she is well aware that many of the flowers are

gifts from Tesmanss aunts. Though Hedda's cut is followed by an

invitation to sit, Aunt Juliana senses Hedda's insincerity and
makes ready to leave,

Though momentarily victorious in her power play, Hedda's

strategy is thwarted when Juliana distracts Tesman with her gift
of love--his old bedroom slippers embroidered by his invalid
aunt. To Hedda, the slippers are a reminder of the debt that
Tesman owes his aunts and she misinterprets the action as a power
strategy on the part of Aunt 3uliana--if Tesman is indebted to
his aunts, then she is also. Hedda counters by humiliating
TesmanBsaunt: she feigns anger at the maid for leaving her hat
on a parlour chair, knowing full well that the hat belongs rather
 Page 85

aunt to comment on
r suggestion of
lacated, but

ect she is no

is indicated

..,iIedda moves about the room, raising her arms and

clenching her fist as if in a frenzy. Then she flings back
the c u r t a b s f r o m the glass door and stands there, looking
out. (705)

2-
 Mrs. Elvsted is a different matter to Hedda. She wants
ation from her and will therefore treat her with kid gloves
she is no longer needed, after which she will cast her to
d. Her desire for power over every individual she comes
ntact with is so great and so longstanding that she is
ee almost instantly which tactic will work to gain the
in any given situation. She manipulates each
toward this end. She senses immediately that Thea
is unused to kindness and will be 'ly manipulated by
most meagerly show of it- Thus, Thea enters the
11 frantic concern just below the surface, Hedda makes
"greeting her warmly,11and complimenting her on her
rs, She *IdrawsMrs. Elvsted down on the sofa and
rw (708); kisses her cheek, and insists on being
her first name. She strokes Thealshands, gradually
er out and procuring the necessary information. All of
are in stark contrast to her meeting, only moments
Tesman8s aunt, In fact, while her exchange with her
new relative is inappropriately cold and distant, her exchange
with a woman she barely knows is inappropriately familiar. The
two exchanges work well side by side to illustrate Heddals
resourcefulness in the power game: she will behave in whatever
manner the situation warrants to gain complete power in the
situation, By the time Thea leaves, she believes she has gained
a new friend and ally; she has rather put herself into the
 Page 87

power of Hedda Gabler. Like an family, Thea

y mark for Hedda, eems that Thea has
ssion through0 to Sheriff
title), she

the procureme rather upon

ve. Ironically, love for Eilert
him, a power which he readily

ship with Judge Brack, Hedda tastes a little

power. Brack, unlike the Tesmans or Thea
Elvsted, places a high value on power and makes it his business
to procure as m u c h of it as humanly possible, In Brack, Hedda
fkds her match and enjoys the small power she holds over him-
Their seemingly good-natured banter is fraught with
double-entendre and bargaining over the terms of their future
 Page 88

relationship. That he proposes a "triangular arrangementt1is not

abhorrent to lfedda as long as she holds the power. However, as
Is the Judge much later in the play, she is Vhoroughly
-that [he has] no kind of hold over [her]" (756),
ially one might wonder why Hedda did not set her
e Judge--a man at once well-established and
t can be reasoned that Brack lacks Tesmanls

ty. That he is powerful and that she might have had

that power is incontestable, but she would have held
r over the Judge, just as, though she had access to
ower, she had little power over him, Ironically,
Tesman was easy prey for Hedda--she easily gained
hint--she has no access to power through him. Further,
als little interest in sharing, connubially or
, any portion of his pawer--his interests lie solely in

Eilert Lovbarg, however, is, again, a different matter.

Hedda: is drawn to Lovborg not merely for the ideological,

ecanomk, and physical power that is his birthright, but for the
power of freedom he possesses as a function of his gender. While
not all of h i s gender choose to step outside the bonndaries sf
acceptable society, any z~aystep outside these kmundaries and
still remain soeialby acceptable. For Hedda, this is the
ultimate power and yet it is also the most elusive to her. While
 Page 89

a woman might have access to male power through her father or

husband, this power of freedom, by its very nature, can never be
extended to her. Thus, Hedda is fascinated by it and has made

it her business to experience this power vicariously, through

Lovborg. Ibsen targets the vicarious nature of Heddafs desire i n
the following passage:

,.. She wants to lead a man's life. B u t then comes

hesitations--the inherited deep-rooted beliefs ,.. One

marries Tesman but one occupies one's imagination with
Lovborg. One leans back in onefs chair, closes one eye, and
pictures his adventures. .,.. She cannot do it
herself--cannot take part in the other one's goal--so she
shoots herself, (Jacobs, 427)

Thus, Hedda is thrilled when, in her boredom and

dissatisfaction, she discovers that Lovborg will soon re-enter

her life. Through Lovborg, Hedda, prior to her marriage, had
managed to realize vicariously all her male fantasies of living a
debauched life free from the constraints of bourgeois

6As Victoria Woodhull notes in her essay Virtue: What It Is, and
What It Is Not," =We cannot render the terms 'libertine' and
'rake* as opprobrious as men have made fmistressfand
'courtesans. ...
The world enslaves our sex by the mere fear of
an epithet; and as long as it can throw any vile term at us,
before which we cower, it can maintain our enslavementgf(~ckneir,
147).
 Page 90

convention. To Hedda, Lovborg has come to represent her male

self; to Lovborg, Hedda has come to represent the missed
chance--the seduction that never was, Thus, when they face each
other for the first time after Hedda's wild threats against
Lovborg, each is disappointed in the other. Hedda sees a man
feminized through reformed living and the maternal influence of a
good woman; Lovborg sees a woman who has thrown herself away in a
mediocre marriage. When they discuss their past relationship, we
understand that even then the relationship was operating on two
different planes: while Lovborg believed he was seducing Hedda,
she was actually gaining a secret knowledge from him--a knowledge
that normally only a man would be party to:

Lovborg: Yes, Hedda--and the confessions I used to make--

telling you things about myself that no one else knew
of then. About the way I'd go out, the drinking, the

madness that went on day and night, for days at a

time. Ah, what power was it in you, Hedda, that made
me tell you such things? ... Interrogating me
about--all that kind of thing!
Iiedda : And to think you could answer, Mr. Lovborg,
Lovborg: Yes, that's exactly what I don't understand--now,
looking back, But tell me, Hedda--the root of that
bond between us, wasn't it love? Didn't you feel, on
 Page 91

your part, as if you wanted to cleanse and absolve me

--when I brought those confessions to you? Wasn't
that it?
No, not quite.
: What was your power, then?
Do you find it so very surprising that a young girl--if
there's no chance of anyone knowing ... That she'd like
some glimpse of a world that .-.That she's forbidden
to know anything about.
So that was it?
Partly- Partly that, I guess.
: Companionship in a thirst for life. But why then,
couldn't it have gone on?
But that was your fault. (738-9)

We understand from their conversation that while Lovborg-

believed Hedda was in love with him and wanted, in fact, to
reform him, Hedda wanted nothing of the sort, Heddals
gratification in the relationship lay in the vicarious power she
experienced through his tales of debauchery. She had used the
power of her sexual attractiveness to access Lovborg's power.
When Lovborg had tried to consummate what he understood to be in
large part a seduction, the horrified Hedda threatened him with
her fatherfspistols. The horror that Hedda experienced was
derived not from the impropriety Lovborg * s actions, but
 Page 92

from the fact that her good companion would suddenly reduce her
to female status-in effect, reduce her to the level of the women
whose seductions he had so readily conveyed to Hedda. While she
threatened to shoot him with her father's pistols, she could not
follow through--her fear sf scandal would not allow it. And yet,
Lovborg of the events long past, "That wasn't my worst
hat nightm (740). Heddals cowardice lies in her
longing for and denial of freedom--her masculine gender identity
longs for the power that comes with Lovborg's freedom and yet it
will not allow her, as a female, to experience it.

Further, Hedda has held power over Lovborg--this much is

abundantly clear from their conversation. Thus, when Thea tells
Redda that she has succeeded in garnering flsomekind of power1'
(714) over Lovborg, Hedda is incensed. Her disappointment at
Lovbargpshaving allowed himself to fall under the power of so
innocuous a creature as Thea--a woman who cannot truly appreciate
the possession of power--is profound, With Lovborg's
acknowledgment that Thea has indeed gained power over him through
her devotion to him, the play's action is reduced to a power
struggle over the fate of Eilert Lovborg.

Thus, the meeting between the three is marked by Heddals

manipulations and power strategies. Again we see Hedda at her
most resourceful. When Thea, with a hint of proprietorship,
 Page 93

reiterates Lovborgls refusal to imbibe, Hedda insists that he

partake. When he refuses her, the battle is on, Hedda will not
be refused and, after noting that *I..,I have no power over you at

allw ( 7 4 2 ) , she employs a new strategy: she suggests that a

glance of derision has been issued by Judge Brack at Lovborg's
ence. Though Lovborg weakens slightly, he again refuses.
resourceful Hedda then employs knowledge of his and
relationship imparted to her by Thea earlier in the day.
estion is that Thea has been disloyal and Lovborg
under the knowledge that the woman upon whom he is
dependent perceives him as little more than a child.
triumphant as Lovborg toasts both Thea and Hedda, drinks
es of punch, and departs for an evening of more

Ironically, while Lovborg is vaguely aware that a struggle

is being enacted over his fate, Thea is completely oblivious.
Tfiea, whose very name means wdivine,w is motivated only by love
and, like Tesman, has no understanding of the machinations of
power.' While her intelligerce prompts her statement to Hedda
that "There's something behind what you1re doings1 ( 7 4 5 1 , she is
incapable of understanding Heddass response: "For once in my
life, I want to have power over a human beingn (745).

7~ronically,the meaning of Hedda * s name is 'warrior.

 Page 94

Immediately following this statement Hedda acknowledges that Thea

indeed has this power when she confesses to Thea '#Oh,if you only
could understand how poor I am. And you're allowed to be so
rich! *' (745). wRfch,n to Hedda, can only mean rich in power.
Again, in a move not unlike Torvald Helmer, Hedda then resorts to
a show of brute force, proclaiming that she will "burn offw
abundant hair--a salient symbol of Thea's sexual power.
ion is prefigured by her pinching of Thea's arm only
earlier while Thea pleads with Lovborg to refrain from
joining the drinking party. 8

Hedda despises her gender as an irritating impediment

quisition of true power--something to be pulled out only
can be used to garner sexual power--Thea has gained a
modicum of true power through her gender. Indeed, Thea, through
her love for Lovborg, has both power over him and access to his
power. Further, they have worked tosether, side by side, and
from this Thea has learned the value of work and achievement. As

'While Thea is the only recipient of Hedda s displays of physical

strength, it can be reasoned that she is the only person over
whom Hedda can reasonably exert any kind of physical force. In
her dealings with the men in her life, Hedda employs an extension
of physical force in the form of her father's pistols--both Judge
Brack and Eilert Lovborg are threatened in this manner. While we
have no proof that she has actually threatened her husband with
the pistols, she does threaten him with their use when, to his
horror, she tells him, "Well, at least I have one thing left to
amuse myself with.
??CI•÷ %
..,
My pistols ...
General GablerlspistolsB1
 Page 95

sfre tells Eedda, her lave for Lovborg has turned her into a human

being. Where Hedda wants only power over Lovborg, Thea wants
only love--and yet through this love she has gained power.

As Hedda predicts, Lovborg does indeed become gloriously

drunk, and loses his manuscript, the llchildll
born of his
relationship with Thea, and all of his recently acquired
credibility in the process. As Hedda burns the manuscript that
has found its way into her hands, she is at her most triumphant,
muttering to herself as she throws the sheets into the fire, IfNow
I'm burning your child, Thea! You, with your curly hair! -..
Your child and Eilert Lovborges. ... Now I'm burning--I1m burning
the childg*(762). In her coup de grace Hedda hands the
distraught Lovborg a pistol, her pistol, and begs him to "arrange
What Hedda asks him is to create
that,.-it's done bea~tifully~~~
their masterpiece, their child, as it were--an act that will
prove her triumph over Thea. While Theafsacts create, Heddals
only destroy. While Thea enables Lovborg to reclaim his life and
produce a masterpiece, Hedda, in one brief evening, pushes
Lovborg toward his own destruction and destroys his manuscript.
While Hedda is physically fecund, she is spiritually sterlle;
Thea, though physically barren, is spiritually fertile. And so,
while Hedda wins the battle, Thea will win the war.
 Page 96

As Hedda discovers the ugly truth of LovborgBs death--that

t held any
wer over him--she also learns that she is in Judge
ower--a power which he promises to exert to gain sexual
. To be under the power of another, especially one so
as Brack--this, to IIedda, is anathema:

our hold over

arest Hedda--believe me--I won't abuse my

e, I ' m in your power. Tied to your will and

free. Not free, then! (Rises
. No--I can8tbear the thought of it.

inevitable.

of spiritual birthing, Thea has born

he notes upon which Lovborg had based his
to conjoin with Thea
"twinm to the
Tesman, Heddals
oman who places
is added to her prison,
 Page 97
[

Hedda sees her life ahead as a living death and instead chooses
for herself the beautiful death she planned for Lovborg: in her
most sterile and destructive act, with her father's pistol aimed
at her temple, she takes her own life. And yet, Hedda's death is
tragic than inevitable--the gun has been aimed at her temple
her birth twenty-nine years before,

A pregnant woman with a gun held to her temple, Hedda is the

of the playwright's vision for the future of
condition that it sticks to its path of
mction and oppression. She is the tortured product of a
that values power over love, that would oppress, even
its most intimate institutions, those members of society
d no power, Power breeds power: the powerful grow more
1; the powerless, more oppressed, And yet, fbsen offers
the form of George Tesman and Thea Elvsted: two people
ives are organized around the procurement of love, nut
so, the triad completes: the patriarchal institution
of marriage is condemned in Heddais self-annihilating gesture,
while a new institution emerges from the union of the spiritually
 Page 98

Conclusion

Of Ibsen, Brian Johnston posits, ",..he is alerting us...to

inadequacies in our idea of the theatrical rendition of the

world, of the way the.world aesthetically is represented in the
conventional theaterm (311). IrOncewe have recognized thisIw he
continues, "we are ready for the extension of his method in the
next playst(311). While Johnston writes of Ibsenlsdramatic
method, both within the plays themselves and within his oeuvre,
his concept must be extended to the themes the playwright
develops as well. In the case of theme, however, Ibsen alerts us
rather to the inadequacies of our ethos--our a c t u a l rendition of
the world. His call to action is both personal and collective.
Each play prepares us for the extension of his theme in the
next. while Nora paves the way for Mrs. Alving, Mrs. Alving
prepares us for Hedda. We cannot understand the true nature of
Mrs, Alving without the benefit of Nora, nor can we fully
understand Hedda without first experiencing both Nora and Mrs.
Alving .

l~bsenmay abandon an unresolved theme to go on to others, but he

invariably returns. P i l l a r s of Society prefigures An Enemy o f the
People and J o h G a b r i e l Borkman (both of which come much later in his
oeuvre), just as A D o l l House and Ghosts prefigure Hedda Gabler (which
comes nine years and five plays after G h o s t s ) ,
....
 Page 99

Through Nora, Mrs- Alving, and Hedda, Ibsen explores the

dire consequences of the dominationfsubmission model of
marriage. They are the maiden, matron, and crone, each possessed
wan active and energetic mind," each seeking some portion of
r to make up for the freedom they do not, nor ever will,
as a result of their gender and expected submissive role
their marriages. The men they concern themselves with are
r by their titles: Lawyer, Doctor, Captain, Pastor,
Judge, and even Professor. The characterization Ibsen
for the lawyer can extend to the Captain, the General, or
e: they are interchangeable--the playwright need only
tensions to the original, The titles are conspicuous
rs of the ideological power this kind of man invariably
Indeed, these men hold power even after their
s--both Captain Alving and General Gabler hold a modicum of
power and have died long before the curtains rise.
are, in a sense, properties to the action of the various

plays.

And yet, while the women these three plays concern

themselves with are nothing alike, they are sister, mother,
daughter to each other. Nora, had she stayed with Torvald, would
become Mrs. Alving; N o r a and Mrs. ALving had they been satisfied
with their powerless existences could easily have given birth to
 Page 100

a Hedda. They share male domination, they differ in their ways

ixcrund it. Nora is raised as a doll and passed on to a
domineering husband to perpetuate her powerless existence. Her
ge exists as a well-disguised power struggle, and yet in a
of triumph and crystal clear vision, Nora manages to
and the truth of her existence and walk away from the
er marriage has become. Helene Alving also marries a
g husband, but listens to the voice of convention and
in the oppressive marriage. While Mrs. Alving shares
telligence, she lacks her vision and her courage.
an risk all and leave her marriage, she gains a
sband and in turn becomes the oppressor.
es her son's childhood in her pursuit of
d by a domineering father, yet marries a
es not value power and, further, is easily dominated.
She is both profoundly bored and intensely frustrated. And yet,
she is so enmeshed in the power game that she works through her
boredom and frustration by exerting power anywhere she can.
Where the triad begins triumphantly, with Nora slamming the door
on her oppression, it completes with the sterile, destructive
regnant woman--a madonna of sorts, that most
o patriarchal ideologies, shooting herself in
I wish necessarily to kill the child in her womb--it means nothing
to her. It will die though, as a result of the wound. She kills
mind: the source of her dissatisfaction, the source of her
standing cf her powerlessness. Hedda has learned to value
wer, but has come to finally and absolutely understand
she will never possess it.

d yet Hedda, in all her misery, with the child in her

is the future. The qesture is defiant, yet Hedda functions
from defiance, but defeat, The message is clear: human
ships based on domination by the male and submission by
le, where value is placed on women solely for their
and therefore reproductive potential signal catastrophe.
1 end only as it can: in sterility and destruction,
 Page 1

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Page 106
 Page 107

--------- a
"Of This T i m e , of This Place: Mrs. Alvingls Ghosts