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Hedda Gabler

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( 39,808 ratings, 1,540 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Hedda Gabler tells the story of a woman caught between societal expectation and personal desire. Hedda, too fearful of scandal to pursue a passionate life, enters a loveless marriage. When her former love returns with a play that could ruin her husband's career, Hedda takes drastic measures with tragic consequences. This classic play by Henrik Ibsen combines elements of comedy and tragedy to explore themes of repression, ambition, and societal hypocrisy.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This edition, featuring Michael Meyer's translation and expert commentary by Dr Sophie Duncan, is ideal for students and enthusiasts of drama and 19th-century literature, as well as those interested in gender politics and theatrical history.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Too frightened of scandal to become involved with a brilliant writer, Hedda Gabler opts instead for a conventional but loveless marriage. But, when her first love returns with a masterpiece that might threaten her husband's career, Hedda decides to take drastic and fatal action.

Universally condemned in 1890 when it was written, Hedda Gabler has subsequently become one of Ibsen's most performed and studied plays. Blending comedy and tragedy, Ibsen probes the thwarted aspirations and hidden anxieties of his characters against a backdrop of contemporary social habits and hypocrisies.

This Methuen Drama Student Edition is published with Michael Meyer’s classic translation, and with commentary and notes by Dr. Sophie Duncan. These offer a contemporary lens on the play's gender politics, and consider some key twentieth and twenty-first century productions of Hedda Gabler, which include actresses like Maggie Smith, Harriet Walker, and Ruth Wilson taking on the iconic titular role.

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Originally condemned upon its 1890 debut, Hedda Gabler faced harsh criticism for Ibsen’s unflinching portrayal of human nature. One early review from the Saturday Morning Review dismissed Ibsen’s work as lacking artistic merit, focusing instead on the sordid aspects of life. Over time, the play has gained acclaim and become a staple of theatrical study and performance.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781350110069

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 January 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Methuen Drama

Edition: 2nd edition

Contributors:

  • Translated by Michael Meyer
  • Edited by Sophie Duncan

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 126g

Pages: 144

About the Author

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was a Norwegian playwright and poet whose realistic, symbolic and often controversial plays revolutionised European theatre. He is widely regarded as the father of modern drama. His acclaimed plays include A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, An Enemy of the People and The Pillars of the Community. Sophie Duncan is a Fellow of Christ Church, University of Oxford. She received her DPhil from Brasenose College, Oxford, where she was Senior Hulme Scholar, in 2013. She then became Stipendiary Lecturer at St Catherine’s and Supernumerary Fellow in English at Harris Manchester College, before returning to full-time research at Magdalen. She has been a guest lecturer at King’s College London and the Bread Loaf School of English. In 2013, she became Editor of Victorian Network. Her research includes longstanding links with the world of professional theatre, and she works regularly as a historical advisor/dramaturg in theatre, television, radio and film. Her publications include Shakespeare’s Women and the Fin de Siècle (Oxford University Press) and she has published on the African American actor Ira Aldridge, the bibliographical history of Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Michael Meyer is widely regarded as the definitive translator of Ibsen and Strindberg. His Strindberg translations made him the first Englishman to receive the Gold Medal of the Swedish Academy in 1964 and his biography of Ibsen won the Whitbread Biography Award in 1971.

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