Hedda, the proud and willful daughter of General Gabler, newly married to George Tesman, returns from her honeymoon to Norway. She chafes at the prospect of a dull life in a loveless marriage until a former lover, Eilert LĂžvborg, returns and throws their financial future into disarray. The appearance of Heddaâs old schoolmate Thea, who wants to reform LĂžvborg, and Judge Brack, who wants Hedda in his power, leave her struggling to build the life she wants.
Hedda Gabler was first performed in Munich in 1891, and within months there were productions in Berlin, Copenhagen, London, and New York. It was Ibsenâs first play to be translated from proofs before performance or publication. Productions of the play have won two Olivier Awards and been broadcast in multiple countries; since 1917, it has been adapted into more than a dozen feature films in almost as many languages.
so farâ âfar apart from each other. Our circles have been so entirely different.
Hedda
Well then, we must try to drift together again. Now listen. At school we said du11 to each other; and we called each other by our Christian namesâ â
Mrs. Elvsted
No, I am sure you must be mistaken.
Hedda
No, not at all! I can remember quite distinctly. So now we are going to renew our old friendship. Draws the footstool closer to Mrs. Elvsted. There now! Kisses her cheek. You must say du to me and call me Hedda.
Mrs. Elvsted
Presses and pats her hands. Oh, how good and kind you are! I am not used to such kindness.
Hedda
There, there, there! And I shall say du to you, as in the old days, and call you my dear Thora.
Mrs. Elvsted
My name is Thea.12
Hedda
Why, of course! I meant Thea. Looks at her compassionately. So you are not accustomed to goodness and kindness, Thea? Not in your own home?
Mrs. Elvsted
Oh, if I only had a home! But I havenât any; I have never had a home.
Hedda
Looks at her for a moment. I almost suspected as much.
Mrs. Elvsted
Gazing helplessly before her. Yesâ âyesâ âyes.
Hedda
I donât quite rememberâ âwas it not as housekeeper that you first went to Mr. Elvstedâs?
Mrs. Elvsted
I really went as governess. But his wifeâ âhis late wifeâ âwas an invalidâ âand rarely left her room. So I had to look after the housekeeping as well.
Hedda
And thenâ âat lastâ âyou became mistress of the house.
Mrs. Elvsted
Sadly. Yes, I did.
Hedda
Let me seeâ âabout how long ago was that?
Mrs. Elvsted
My marriage?
Hedda
Yes.
Mrs. Elvsted
Five years ago.
Hedda
To be sure; it must be that.
Mrs. Elvsted
Oh those five yearsâ â! Or at all events the last two or three of them! Oh, if you13 could only imagineâ â
Hedda
Giving her a little slap on the hand. De? Fie, Thea!
Mrs. Elvsted
Yes, yes, I will tryâ â. Well, ifâ âyou could only imagine and understandâ â
Hedda
Lightly. Eilert Lövborg has been in your neighbourhood about three years, hasnât he?
Mrs. Elvsted
Looks at here doubtfully. Eilert Lövborg? Yesâ âhe has.
Hedda
Had you known him before, in town here?
Mrs. Elvsted
Scarcely at all. I meanâ âI knew him by name of course.
Hedda
But you saw a good deal of him in the country?
Mrs. Elvsted
Yes, he came to us every day. You see, he gave the children lessons; for in the long run I couldnât manage it all myself.
Hedda
No, thatâs clear.â âAnd your husbandâ â? I suppose he is often away from home?
Mrs. Elvsted
Yes. Being sheriff, you know, he has to travel about a good deal in his district.
Hedda
Leaning against the arm of the chair. Theaâ âmy poor, sweet Theaâ ânow you must tell me everythingâ âexactly as it stands.
Mrs. Elvsted
Well, then you must question me.
Hedda
What sort of a man is your husband, Thea? I meanâ âyou knowâ âin everyday life. Is he kind to you?
Mrs. Elvsted
Evasively. I am sure he means well in everything.
Hedda
I should think he must be altogether too old for you. There is at least twenty yearsâ difference between you, is there not?
Mrs. Elvsted
Irritably. Yes, that is true, too. Everything about him is repellent to me! We have not a thought in common. We have no single point of sympathyâ âhe and I.
Hedda
But is he not fond of you all the same? In his own way?
Mrs. Elvsted
Oh I really donât know. I think he regards me simply as a useful property. And then it doesnât cost much to keep me. I am not expensive.
Hedda
That is stupid of you.
Mrs. Elvsted
Shakes her head. It cannot be otherwiseâ ânot with him. I donât think he really cares for anyone but himselfâ âand perhaps a little for the children.
Hedda
And for Eilert Lövborg, Thea?
Mrs. Elvsted
Looking at her. For Eilert Lövborg? What puts that into your head?
Hedda
Well, my dearâ âI should say, when he sends you after him all the way to townâ âSmiling almost imperceptibly. And besides, you said so yourself, to Tesman.
Mrs. Elvsted
With a little nervous twitch. Did I? Yes, I suppose I did. Vehemently, but not loudly. Noâ âI may just as well make a clean breast of it at once! For it must all come out in any case.
Hedda
Why, my dear Theaâ â?
Mrs. Elvsted
Well, to make a long story short: My husband did not know that I was coming.
Hedda
What! Your husband didnât know it!
Mrs. Elvsted
No, of course not. For that matter, he was away from home himselfâ âhe was travelling. Oh, I could bear it no longer, Hedda! I couldnât indeedâ âso utterly alone as I should have been in future.
Hedda
Well? And then?
Mrs. Elvsted
So I put together some of my thingsâ âwhat I needed mostâ âas quietly as possible. And then I left the house.
Hedda
Without a word?
Mrs. Elvsted
Yesâ âand took the train to town.
Hedda
Why, my dear, good Theaâ âto think of you daring to do it!
Mrs. Elvsted
Rises and moves about the room. What else could I possibly do?
Hedda
But what do you think your husband will say when you go home again?
Mrs. Elvsted
At the table, looks at her. Back to him?
Hedda
Of course.
Mrs. Elvsted
I shall never go back to him again.
Hedda
Rising and going towards her. Then you have left your homeâ âfor good and all?
Mrs. Elvsted
Yes. There was nothing else to be done.
Hedda
But thenâ âto take flight so openly.
Mrs. Elvsted
Oh, itâs impossible to keep things of that sort secret.
Hedda
But what do you think people will say of you, Thea?
Mrs. Elvsted
They may say what they like, for aught I care. Seats herself wearily and sadly on the sofa. I have done nothing but what I had to do.
Hedda
After a short silence. And what are your plans now? What do you think of doing.
Mrs. Elvsted
I donât know yet. I only know this, that I must live here, where Eilert Lövborg isâ âif I am to live at all.
Hedda
Takes a chair from the table, seats herself beside her, and strokes her hands. My dear Theaâ âhow did thisâ âthis friendshipâ âbetween you and Eilert
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