Hedda Gabler, by Henrik Ibsen

HEDDA GABLER - LONG ESSAY Henrik Ibsen portrays a microcosm of nineteenth century Norwegian society in his play Hedda Gabler. Hedda, the protagonist, exhibits a mixture of masculine and feminine traits due to her unique upbringing under General Gabler and the social mores imposed upon her. However, although this society venerates General Gabler because of his military status, his daughter Hedda is not tolerated due to her non-conformity to the accepted gender stereotypes. Hedda's gender-inverted …

…as fearful of scandal as all that" and takes her life, ironically avoiding the scandal surrounding Lovborg's death and yet causing a scandal concerning her own. Hedda's masculine preference for the pistols to any feminine task of housekeeping and her fear of scandal due to not conforming with society's accepted gender roles leads her to kill herself, thus demonstrating that things which "one doesn't do" are not tolerated by her society of nineteenth century Norway.