Hedda Gabler

In 1890, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen completed Hedda Gabler, a play that questioned the role of women in Victorian society through the portrayal of its title character, a young woman trapped in a disappointing marriage. Having been the center of a glittering social world in her father’s home, Gabler chafes at her more humble role as the wife of a scholar. Some audiences have viewed Gabler as driven to desperation simply because her world has turned out to be less charmed than she hoped. For others, she is a victim of her times, unwilling to devote herself, as was expected of her, to the duties of home. Jon Robin Baitz’s new adaptation provides readers with a new version for the twenty-first century.