How Does Henrik Ibsen’s Use of the Huldre in Hedda Gabler Influence the Characters of the Story?
How Does Henrik Ibsen’s Use of the Huldre in Hedda Gabler Influence the Characters of the Story?
How Does Henrik Ibsen’s Use of the Huldre in Hedda Gabler Influence the Characters of the Story?
The gender roles of women in the Victorian age differ from today’s standards; nonetheless, they are still somewhat upheld. Female roles in Victorian society included being the wife, the mother, the household manager and the societal missionary. Some aspects of social-self versus essential-self come into play in terms of gender roles because Victorian society was rigid. For example, a small burp would lead to social ruin if it was heard. Ibsen chose to incorporate elements of the Huldre into the female characters, which is a potentially malevolent female fairy with a cow’s tail and maiden’s glow. This thereby fuses the theme of gender roles in the conflict of the main character’s Huldre-like traits.
The play contains several references to Huldre-like traits that the female characters exhibit. For example, in Act II on page 144, Hedda refuses to show her ankles:
Hedda: I never jump out.
Brack: Really?
Hedda: No—because there is always someone standing by to….
Brack: …To look at your ankles, do you mean?
Hedda: Precisely.
Ibsen could hardly provide Hedda with a cow’s tail. However, he seems to have come close. The display of her legs compromises her desire to live respectably in society just as the exposure of the huldre’s tail comprises hers. From this example, one can tell that Hedda purportedly has something to hide on her legs, a quality that the Huldre also possesses. There is an undeniable similarity between Hedda’s attempt to hide her legs and the Huldre’s attempt to hide her lower half. If they are as similar as they appear in this regard, their motivation for doing so would be to assimilate successfully with humans and seem as human-like as possible. Hedda is clearly a human, but because she is so closely linked to a Huldre, she must make efforts to fit
How Does Henrik Ibsen’s Use of the Huldre in Hedda Gabler Influence the Characters of the Story?
The gender roles of women in the Victorian age differ from today’s standards; nonetheless, they are still somewhat upheld. Female roles in Victorian society included being the wife, the mother, the household manager and the societal missionary. Some aspects of social-self versus essential-self come into play in terms of gender roles because Victorian society was rigid. For example, a small burp would lead to social ruin if it was heard. Ibsen chose to incorporate elements of the Huldre into the female characters, which is a potentially malevolent female fairy with a cow’s tail and maiden’s glow. This thereby fuses the theme of gender roles in the conflict of the main character’s Huldre-like traits.
The play contains several references to Huldre-like traits that the female characters exhibit. For example, in Act II on page 144, Hedda refuses to show her ankles:
Hedda: I never jump out.
Brack: Really?
Hedda: No—because there is always someone standing by to….
Brack: …To look at your ankles, do you mean?
Hedda: Precisely.
Ibsen could hardly provide Hedda with a cow’s tail. However, he seems to have come close. The display of her legs compromises her desire to live respectably in society just as the exposure of the huldre’s tail comprises hers. From this example, one can tell that Hedda purportedly has something to hide on her legs, a quality that the Huldre also possesses. There is an undeniable similarity between Hedda’s attempt to hide her legs and the Huldre’s attempt to hide her lower half. If they are as similar as they appear in this regard, their motivation for doing so would be to assimilate successfully with humans and seem as human-like as possible. Hedda is clearly a human, but because she is so closely linked to a Huldre, she must make efforts to fit
Cited: Ibsen, Henrik. “Hedda Gabler.” Trans. William Archer. Of Time and Place. Eds. James E Miller Jr., et al. Glenview: Scott, Foresman & Company, 1976. 126-173. Print. Stanton, Stephen S. "Trolls in Ibsen 's Late Plays." Comparative Drama 32.4 (1998): 541-80. Serial Solutions. Web. 6 Feb. 2013.