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Scene Study prepares you to perform key scenes for your theater class or audition. We've got all the information you need for a great performance.
Excerpt from Act 1 Dialogue: Aunt Julle, Hedda Gabler, George Tesman
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Understanding the Given Circumstances
- September morning sun streams through a glass door in the elegantly furnished drawing room of Falk Mansion, where numerous flower bouquets are displayed.
Hedda Gabler and George Tesman have arrived the night before after a six-month honeymoon. - Tesman’s elderly maiden aunts, Julle (Miss Tesman) and Rina, who is an invalid, raised him. An aspiring academic, Tesman hopes to write a book to attain the rank of professor.
- Accustomed to privilege and affluence, Hedda is the daughter of the deceased General Gabler, an aristocrat.
- Aunt Julle has arrived to ensure everything is perfect for the newlyweds with help from Berta, her former maid who now serves the couple.
- Tesman appears, complimenting Aunt Julle on her new hat. They discuss his trip, Rina’s declining health, his work, and the mounting debts. Aunt Julle reveals that she has used her and Rina’s annuity as collateral to secure the newlyweds’ furniture and carpets.
- Aunt Julle subtly inquires if the couple has “expectations,” which Tesman misinterprets as being about his work, but the audience understands Aunt Julle is asking when they’re going to have children. Hedda’s entrance suddenly draws their attention.
Blocking and Movement
In theater, blocking is the process of planning the actors’ physical movements and positions. Be sure to show respect and establish trust when working with scene partners. As you prepare to block this scene, ask yourself the following questions:
- Ibsen provides a very detailed description of the Falk Mansion drawing room, including the location of doors and other rooms. What furniture is necessary to block this scene? Where is it?
- Hand props, like the bonnet and slippers, take on great significance in Hedda Gabler. How do different characters relate to them?
- Aunt Julle dotes on George Tesman and welcomes Hedda into the family. Does Aunt Julle’s attitude change? How does this affect her movement and line delivery?
- George Tesman treasures his two aunts and adores his new bride. How does he relate to each one? How does he try to ease the tension?
- Hedda dislikes Aunt Julle and seems bored with Tesman. However, polite society demands certain graciousness. How does she vacillate between her feelings? How does this affect her movements and line delivery? Is she being deliberately cruel? Why?
- Is Hedda pregnant? Aunt Julle hints at it, and Tesman’s observations could support it. If so, how does Hedda feel about it? How does Hedda physicalize how she feels about it? Does Tesman realize it.
Historical Context
In the patriarchal society of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, women faced many societal expectations but few opportunities for self-determination, with status influencing both. Men owned the property, men acquired the money, men protected the ladies, and men expected their legacy to continue. Consequently, marriage and motherhood became prerequisites for women, both financially and socially, regardless of one’s class.
Society in the 1890s viewed single women as marginalized. Due to the lack of education and the constant struggle to pay for food and rent, lower-class women, such as Berta, worked as servants, farmhands, or shop clerks. Others found opportunities in the sex trade. Better educated and often with a little family income, single middle-class women became governesses, artisans, and caregivers, like Aunt Julle. For aristocrats such as Hedda, society’s demands for opulence, refinement, and strict morality became their full-time jobs—one only sustained by a financially secure, well-connected husband. Freedom to explore one’s desires seemed a luxury very few could afford.
Despite this, all the play’s women find fulfillment except Hedda. Lacking their own children, the aunts and Berta rejoice in George Tesman’s exploits and look forward to the next generation. Abandoning an unhappy marriage, Mrs. Thea Elvsted finds meaning as a literary assistant and muse for Eilert Lovborg’s book. With motherhood calling, Hedda alone fails to see beyond her boredom to find a purpose greater than herself.
Full Act 1 Dialogue: Aunt Julle, Hedda Gabler, George Tesman
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