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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Lovborg tell Mrs. Elvsted happened to the manuscript?

2. Of what does Lovborg accuse Mrs. Elvsted?

3. Where does Hedda assume that Tesman is?

4. What happens to the manuscript when Tesman leaves?

5. What is Hedda doing when Tesman returns from Brack's party?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a full analysis comparing and contrasting the two characters of Mrs. Elvsted and Hedda.

Part 1: Compare and contrast the motives, personalities, the effects of their actions, the fears, and other attributes of the two characters. How are they alike and how are they different? Does one embody what the other needs? How?

Part 2: What point do you think Ibsen was trying to get through to the audience by putting these two women in contrast with each other? Is there a greater message about femininity or the female role he is trying to bring up by putting these two women in contrast with each other? What would that be?

Essay Topic 2

In the play HEDDA GABLER, all the characters surround the title character and in their own way add to the entrapment that she feels. Write an essay detailing the trap that Hedda ultimately feels she must escape at any cost, and the role each of the surrounding characters played in the trap.

Part 1: What role did society play in creating the situation that Hedda finds herself in? What other paths were available to her that she could have chosen that would not have left her feeling so limited?

Part 2: What role did Hedda play in creating the trap for herself? Does she have weaknesses that keep her from happiness? What attributes might she have that would have kept her from feeling this way?

Part 3: All the other characters in the play, including her unborn child, aid in tightening the trap around Hedda. Discuss how the actions of each of the other characters affect Hedda and cause her to feel constantly more trapped.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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