It is Finished!!

On completion of the World Literature class, I would like to say that I really enjoyed all the assignments and different literature that we read. Above all stories Hedda Gabler was my favorite. I agreed with Summer today as she told me that this was one of her favorites also because of the sexual energy it had throughout the plot. On one hand we see Hedda as a mean and deceitful person, but on the other hand I have to respect her for the control she has over men in the era. Back during this time period women were the lesser being and were thought of as just a means to keep house and bear children, but Hedda is really neither and still has more control than most women. Not only does she have complete control over her husband Tessman, but two other men also - her ex-lover, Loevborg and Judge Brack. The way in which she controls Judge Brack is typical of the modern woman - through sexual tension and teasing… “HEDDA There’d have been no one to receive you. I’ve been in my room since lunch, dressing. BRACK You haven’t a tiny crack in the door through which we might have negotiated? HEDDA You forgot to arrange one” (Ibsen 1482-83). Hedda uses her womanly attributes to her advantage and uses them to control all the men in the story. To a point, I think all women can connect with Hedda on some level with using our bodies and brains together to get what we want. In the end of the story Hedda takes ultimate control by taking her own life… “TESMAN [Screams to BRACK.] She’s shot herself! Shot herself in the head! By Jove! Fancy that! BRACK [Half paralyzed in the armchair.] But, good God! People don’t do such things” (Ibsen 1518)!