Hedda Gabler

Rating:
Summary: Ridiculous characters and plot.
Review: "Hedda Gabler" has to be one of the most boring plays I have ever read. If you're looking for action in a play, then stay away from this one. Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll House" was mesmerizing and captivating, and this play is the exact opposite. There was no point to the plot and the ending served no purpose. Hedda was bored - that's the point; just shameful. I do not recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo! Bravo!
Review: A great audio play which pulls the listener in and never lets go. As the story progresses the tension mounts and mounts until you can't take the suspense no longer. Juliet Stevenson does a superb job in portraying the manipulative but reckless Hedda and the rest of the cast are top notch. This is a brilliant presentation of ibsen's play showing the foibles of life and the dangers of desire. A wonderful audio experience to be listened to over and over again. Highly recommended. This audio book contains two CDs and is a full cast presentation of Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo! Bravo!
Review: A great audio play which pulls the listener in and never lets go. As the story progresses the tension mounts and mounts until you can't take the suspense no longer. Juliet Stevenson does a superb job in portraying the manipulative but reckless Hedda and the rest of the cast are top notch. This is a brilliant presentation of ibsen's play showing the foibles of life and the dangers of desire. A wonderful audio experience to be listened to over and over again. Highly recommended. This audio book contains two CDs and is a full cast presentation of Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler.

Rating:
Summary: "Interesting yet disturbing"
Review: A well written play which gives you a sense how how woman felt during the times of patriarchy. Hedda is an extrodinary character who is very complex but at the same time she is fairly simple to understand. Her evil doings are somewhat erased from our minds as we justify them, we feel pity towards Hedda because of the pityful life she is trapped in, the distorted views on life that Hedda poseses come to a climax toward the end and we understand a bit more about her character, however,just as we begin to understand her actions and feel pity towards her instead of hate we sadly discover her death at the end. A thoroughly interesting yet somewhat confusing? play!

Rating:
Summary: A HORRIBLE, unperformable translation
Review: An insult to the great play. Please, please, go with the McFarlane translation on Oxford, at LEAST!

Rating:
Summary: Hedda The Misunderstood
Review: Aw Contrare my friends, Hedda was not bored, but trapped. A woman before her time, as most of Ibsen's female characters, unable to yield to the societal norms of the day. A strong, well educated woman existing in a time when permission to go out and about had to be asked of the dominant male of the house. The insurgence of the Industrial Revolution was taking place, the world was changing quickly, and with it old manors and chivalry was being extincted. These mores which Hedda had been raised to cling to were falling away for the world, but not for Hedda. They ran concourse to the blood in her veins.
Despite an inner strength of character and longing to dominate, inspire, and influence, she found herself torn between the new world and the way in which she was raised. Those values and their presence is signified by the silent character of her father, in the form of a picture that is continually refferred to.
When Hedda is overshadowed by Mrs. Elvstead in Lovborg's life she scrambles to make her mark, to have some influence. The nature of that inspiration is of no interest to her. As a madman who longs for fame and finds it in a violent act, Hedda does what she does for the power/influence in it, but not out of malice. Though we, the audience, may judge what her actions may have lead to, this is a moot avenue of perspective. It is "why" she does what she does that makes her such an intriguing character.

Rating:
Summary: Best translation for stage
Review: From the view of a Theater major, this translation and adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' allows an audience (and a reader, for that matter) to follow all the intricate little jokes and personality quirks. Unlike other translations, the way each character speaks is distinct from all the others. The words aren't the only thing translated from the Norwegian; the nuances and attitudes are as well. George Tesman is amusingly obtuse, and his Auntie Julia isn't simply the sweet old lady she appears to be. Judge Brack and Hedda can share some wonderful inside jokes without the rest of the characters noticing. Eilert Lovborg isn't just bipolar in his actions but also in his words. And unlike many other translations, it is actually possible to be sympathetic to Hedda's situation and not simply loath her for her attitude. One of Ibsen's greatest talents is his way with words: the characters are forever saying one thing and meaning something entirely different. As 'Hedda Gabler' is a play, it is not meant to be simply read; it is meant to be seen, and Jon Robin Baitz certainly makes it easier for the actors to get across the message Ibsen was trying to send. And studying the play intensively during rehearsals and production of 'Hedda Gabler' really make it easier to appreciate exactly how much is going on. It takes much more than just a reading to understand 'Hedda': at its finest, it takes a really stellar cast, especially in the title role, to pull it off.

Rating:
Summary: Best translation for stage
Review: From the view of a Theater major, this translation and adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' allows an audience (and a reader, for that matter) to follow all the intricate little jokes and personality quirks. Unlike other translations, the way each character speaks is distinct from all the others. The words aren't the only thing translated from the Norwegian; the nuances and attitudes are as well. George Tesman is amusingly obtuse, and his Auntie Julia isn't simply the sweet old lady she appears to be. Judge Brack and Hedda can share some wonderful inside jokes without the rest of the characters noticing. Eilert Lovborg isn't just bipolar in his actions but also in his words. And unlike many other translations, it is actually possible to be sympathetic to Hedda's situation and not simply loath her for her attitude. One of Ibsen's greatest talents is his way with words: the characters are forever saying one thing and meaning something entirely different. As 'Hedda Gabler' is a play, it is not meant to be simply read; it is meant to be seen, and Jon Robin Baitz certainly makes it easier for the actors to get across the message Ibsen was trying to send. And studying the play intensively during rehearsals and production of 'Hedda Gabler' really make it easier to appreciate exactly how much is going on. It takes much more than just a reading to understand 'Hedda': at its finest, it takes a really stellar cast, especially in the title role, to pull it off.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen is a classic. It describes the time that this book was written. Ibsen is a master at telling the story and it is truly a great book. I believe that Ibsen was one of the greatest authors at the time!

Rating:
Summary: Personal View of Hedda Gabler
Review: Hedda Gabler is a play filled with tensions and the theme of power play. Personally, I feel that Hedda Gabler is a reflection of a woman trapped in the wrong time. She is one who wants power but is denied of it due to her gender and also her status in the society and all that she needs is to just sit at home and recieve visitors. She has no aims to look forward to and I believe that it is suffocating for this woman. If she had been born in this time of the century, I believe that she would not land up in that patathic end.