Since its publication in 1890, Ibsen's Hedda Gabler has been a recurring point of fascination for readers, theater audiences, and artists alike. Newly married, yet utterly bored, the character of Hedda Gabler evokes reflection on beauty, love, passion, death, nihilism, identity, and a host of other topics of an existential nature. It is no surprise that Ibsen's work has gained the attention of philosophically-minded readers from Nietzsche, Lou Andreas-Salomé, and Freud, to Adorno, Cavell, and beyond. Once staged at avant-garde theaters in Paris, London, and Berlin, Ibsen is now a global phenomenon. The enigmatic character of Hedda Gabler remains intriguing to ever-new generations of actors, audiences, and readers. Hedda Gabler occupies a privileged place in the history of European drama and as a work of literature, and, as this volume demonstrates, invites profound and worthwhile philosophical questions. Through ten newly commissioned chapters, written by leading voices in the fields of drama studies, European philosophy, Scandinavian studies, and comparative literature, this volume brings out the philosophical resonances of Hedda Gabler in particular and Ibsen's drama more broadly.

The play was intended as a tragedy on the purposeless of life imposed on the women of his time, both by their upbringing and by the social conventions which limited their activities. When it was first produced it met with misunderstanding and abuse. It has nevertheless become one of the most popular of Ibsen's plays.

THE STORY: Ibsen's most beguiling antiheroine is given a new twist in Jon Robin Baitz's acclaimed adaptation of HEDDA GABLER: She's no longer the chilly, inscrutable manipulator but a woman with, as the New York Times put it, a context and

THE STORY: Less than forty-eight hours after returning from a luxurious honeymoon, the former Hedda Gabler, now Hedda Tesman, lies dead in the parlor of her new home, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Ibsen's terse masterpiece unf

A guide to reading "Hedda Gabler" and "A Doll's House" with a critical and appreciative mind. Includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list.