In Isben's play Hedda Gabler, Hedda works as a kind of life artist. In an attempt to create a sense of beauty that she obsessively longs for, she creates her art by manipulating the lives and wills of other characters around her. Through the character of Hedda, the play offers a unique perspective on the definition of art, as she works both as an artist and as a part of the art we read. As a work of art, it both critiques the cultural framework of love, marriage, and femininity, and offers a clean escape from these repressive cultural constraints. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Hedda creates beauty as an artist through the manipulation of others. She seems to find joy and a sense of power in being able to control and manipulate those around her. Throughout the drama, she interferes in the lives of other characters, easily bending their will to suit her own needs. Mrs. Elvsted says, “There’s something behind what you’re doing, Hedda.” To which she replies: “Yes, that’s true. For once in my life, I want to have power over another human being” (288). She manipulates others as if they were just puppets in a play she created, making her both the creator and participant of a work of art. She is surrounded by automatic puppet-like characters who ventriloquize the patriarchal values ​​of their society. Almost all of these characters are easy to manipulate and Hedda takes advantage of this, giving her a sense of control over her own life. These characters are called specialists. For Hedda, this is a description of these puppet characteristics, meaning that they think only literally and mechanically without questioning the world around them. By manipulating them, Hedda creates a world outside of the ventriloquism they practice and she escapes the social norms and constructs in which the other characters are so absorbed. This allows him to think independently without taking into account the societal constructs criticized by the drama. Hedda refuses to conform to the traditional role of submissive domestic woman that the characters around her try to impose on her. The aunt, Miss Tesman, reinforces the importance of what Brack calls it, "the most solemn responsibility" (256). It shows the cultural belief that a woman's most important role in life is that of motherhood. The aunt reduces Hedda, as a woman, to a mode of child-producing by focusing entirely on her womb when addressing her. She constantly questions Hedda about her weight gain and stares at her stomach, implying that she may be pregnant. Hedda actually defies the definition of what a woman should be: she is far from submissive, she manipulates all the men in her room. for her own power and refuses to take on a domestic or maternal role. When Brack asks her about motherhood, she responds, "Shut up! You will never see me like that and I have no talent for such things, judge. I will have no responsibility!" (256). She categorically refuses to ventriloquize the ideas that the other characters impose on her. To be free from all responsibilities is to free oneself from the role of mother and wife. By denying them, she no longer fits the definition of a woman and assumes the masculine role. The different roles of men are shown in the three male characters in the novel. As Hedda's husband, Tesman appears as the representative of the patriarchal society to which she attempts toescape. Although he diminishes, never seeming to take her too seriously, he is a weak example of male patriarchal values. He is easily manipulated by his wife and cedes control to her in an attempt to please her. Although he appears unaware of it, Tesman retains little power in the relationship, allowing Hedda to seize that power and explore the man's role in the relationship. The personification of patriarchy and domination socialization of women by men is visible in Brack. His profession as a judge declares all the oppressions of a patriarchal society; he acts as the law, a dominant force of judgment and a figure in a position of power. Hedda describes him in the final scene as “the only rooster on the march” (303), indicating the strong dominant and oppressive male force that has power over women. Eventually, he gains power over her when he discovers that she is involved in Lovborg's suicide; as a woman, she is ultimately unable to escape the societal oppression that Brack represents. Throughout the play, Hedda attempts to rebel against representations of the feminine. The figure of Mrs. Elvsted seems to be a representation of the repressive femininity that Hedda is trying to escape. She sometimes reacts violently toward him, pulling out her hair as a child and deciding, "I think I'll burn your hair after all" (272). She physically opposes the role others expect of her by hurting someone who represents this feminine role. The destruction of Lovborg's diary is also representative of Hedda's refusal to accept the cultural narrative of what womanhood should be. While burning him, she said: "Now I burn your child, Thea! You, with your curly hair! Your child and Eilert Lovborg's child. Now I burn! I burn the child." Burning the book as a representation of their child is Hedda's method of freeing herself from the role of motherhood. She wants to find a way out of her own pregnancy so she doesn't have to deal with the toll motherhood would have on her as a powerful woman. Her jealousy over Lovborg's relationship with Mrs. Elvsted seems to have driven her to the brink of madness. It's something she can't control and it's this loss of control that seems to push her over the edge. The drama continually questions and critiques the idea of ​​love and marriage and the position of man and woman in this context. Despite this, there doesn't seem to be any real love in the room. Hedda and Tesman's relationship is serviceable as they follow the normal narrative of a marriage, but something is clearly missing. Her disinterest in her beloved slippers in the first act shows that Hedda seems to care very little about Tesman. It seems she is with him for material gain and because he is easily manipulated by her. Tesman tries to keep her happy but treats her more like a possession he has conquered than as an individual. The play questions whether there really is such a thing as love in marriage. He criticizes the idea of ​​true love and marriage as something unattainable due to the power relationships that exist within a marriage. This seems to suggest that marriage itself is a primitive desire supported by the idea of ​​love in which the social domination of women by men is justified. Hedda is looking for a marriage in which husband and wife would be equal but cannot seem to find it. The social constructions of marriage operate in such a way that a man is in a position of power and a woman is submissive to him. Hedda seems to conclude that a real marriage would never exist due to the existence of this social narrative. She imagines a way around this problem, but seems to conclude that it's something that doesn't.