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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What state of mind is Mrs Elvsted in when she arrives?

2. What are people suggesting when they note Hedda has "filled out" during her travels?

3. What does the letter sent in Act 1 of HEDDA GABLE propose to do?

4. How were the furnishings in the house paid for?

5. What does Tesman thank Brack for when Brack arrives at the house for the first time in Act 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Brack press Hedda to do regarding Lovborg in the first part of Act 3 of HEDDA GABLER? Why?

2. In Act 1 of Hedda Gabler, what does Hedda say about her piano? What does Tesman suggest in reply, and how is his suggestion received?

3. What do Julle and Tesman allude to when they talk about Hedda "filling out"? How does Hedda feel about it?

4. At the end of Act 3, what does Hedda say to Lovborg about vine leaves? Why?

5. When Julle and Tesman discuss Hedda, what do they usually focus on?

6. What does Tesman say about the unpublished manuscript that Lovborg read to him at Brack's party?

7. What does Lovborg tell Mrs. Elvsted when he sees her the morning after the party at Brack's?

8. In the beginning of Act 2, shortly after discussing their financial constraints, what does Tesman return home with?

9. What is the one trait of Mrs. Elvsted's that Hedda remembers and characterizes her by?

10. In Act 4, what does Brack tell everyone at the Tesman household happened to Lovborg? What did he tell Hedda was the truth when he was alone with her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

For the title character in HEDDA GABLER, having power and influence over someone is of immense importance.

Part 1: Describe Hedda's need for power or influence. Why did she feel it? Was she particular about who she influenced? Was she well meaning in her attempts to influence? Was she responsible with her power?

Part 2: Write an essay about the people in your life that you have influence over and those that have power over you. Discuss the roles of responsibility and power in each relationship. What happens when power is not handled responsibly? What are some of the outcomes of the power or influence in your life and in the life of those around you?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the complexities and challenges of developing the plot in HEDDA GABLER and other similar plays.

Part 1: The entire play happens in one room in the Tesman household over two days. Are there advantages and disadvantages in choosing such a limited stage setting? What difficulties does it present and what might it simplify? What affect does an entire play in one room have on the audience?

Part 2: In the play HEDDA GABLER, Ibsen uses various techniques to make the play flow despite the limited setting and lack of a narrator or asides. How did Ibsen develop his characters? How did he give his audience the information they needed to understand who everyone was? What techniques did he use to help his characters seem natural? How did the action of the play get conveyed to the audience?

Essay Topic 3

"Hedda Gabler" is the maiden name of the character we meet in the play as "Hedda Tesman". However, we often hear her referred to by other characters as "Hedda Gabler" and the play itself is named HEDDA GABLER.

Part 1: What do you think was Ibsen's purpose in this? Is he making her connection to her father, or her unmarried life, stronger than her connection to her husband? We see many contrasts between Hedda's maiden life and her married life, are there any parallel changes in her, or, like her name, is she stuck how she was before getting married?

Part 2: Throughout the play we hear people refer to "Hedda Gabler" with deference and admiration. Hedda was clearly successful at what was expected of her before marriage. What happened? Why is she having such a hard time now? Does Hedda have a way to continue her own legacy, or in the play is she merely the shadow of herself?

Part 3: What role has society played in causing this discrepancy in Hedda's life? Does she have many choices that would lead her to happiness or self fulfillment?

(see the answer keys)

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