Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler; William Archer on Ibsen

1. Characterize Hedda. Is she a likable character?  Why or why not?  In your opinion, does Ibsen want us to like Hedda?  Or is that not even the issue here?  What is this play about, in your view?
2. Ibsen was a progressive thinker and writer in terms of women’s rights.  How can this play be seen as a dramatization of (married) women’s situation in the 19th century?  How does Hedda’s situation exemplify the situation of women at the time, by portraying her in relation to the men in her life as well as the women (specifically the aunts and Thea Elvsted)?
3. Compare and contrast the three main female characters of Hedda, Miss Tesman, and Mrs. Elvsted.  What does considering them dramatically (as opposites and amplifications of 19th-century femininity) tell us about the situation in which Hedda finds herself?  Does the contrast with Miss Tesman and /or Mrs. Elvsted make Hedda a “good” or a “bad” character, in your eyes?  Why?  
4. Hedda says, “I want for once in my life to have power to mould a human destiny.” What do you makes of this statement—how can it be understood as a key to Hedda’s character and situation in this play?
5.  Characterize Tesman and Lovborg (what are they like, how do they compare as different models of masculinity) and pay attention to the way they conduct their research and conceive their topics.  How do the two books they write exemplify the differences between the two men–what do the titles signify about the way Tesman and Lovborg think, respectively?
6. What are some major symbols (setting and prominent symbols are important in Ibsen’s plays to give insight into characters’ inner lives in the absence of inner monologue in realistic drama)?
7. There are signs of trouble in the domestic sphere, especially with regard to gender roles and expectations–collect passages and identify themes.
8. What role does Thea play within the character constellation–as a rival of Hedda’s and as a touchstone for Lovborg and Tesman?
9. Pay attention to the discourse of motherhood and real or imagined “children” in the play, both organic and symbolic. Why, how is it important?
10. What role does Hedda’s (absent, deceased) father play for the plot and character of Hedda, and how is he represented on stage?
11. What is the role of Judge Brack in this play—how and why is he important?
12. Analyze the ending–decadent? tragic? feminist? All of these?  Is this a feminist play, in your opinion?  Why or why not?  Does the end of the play make sense to you as a reader–what effect(s) might Ibsen have had in mind with this, and do you think he wanted us to see this end as inevitable?
13. Hedda Gabler can be seen as a play about destroyed dreams and desires, mainly those of the main character, Hedda.  What dreams, hopes, desires and illusions does she have in this play? 
14. What are the most important points William Archer (a contemporary theater critic who was a great champion of Ibsen in England, along with George Bernard Shaw, who wrote “The Quintessence of Ibsenism”) make about Ibsen?