There has been debate among critics since the play’s debut about why the title role commits suicide at the end of Hedda Gabler. There are theories that she was attempting to create a “beautiful” death because Lövborg was unable to, or that she finally has a psychotic break, or that she had lost all of her freedom. I would like to argue the latter, that she committed suicide due to a lack of freedom, but also touching on the fact of Hedda’s obvious depression and the warning signs given throughout the play that she was in fact on the path to suicide.
It is tough to pinpoint Hedda Gabler’s character in terms of “what is wrong with her?” but I think her character displays many clinical signs of depression, according to the DSM-V: persistent sad or “empty” feelings, diminished interest in activities once found pleasurable, change in body weight, insomnia or excessive sleeping, loss of energy, irritability, and thoughts of death and suicide, including suicide attempts. Hedda displays these characteristics in one way or another throughout the play. For example, she has “empty” feelings about her new life with Tesman and she expresses that by saying she is “bored” with everything . Also, she displays a change in body weight as commented on by both Tesman and Aunt Julle and she displays both excessive sleeping and insomnia by sleeping in through the morning scene and also by staying awake through the rest of the play, respectively. Her lack of energy is implied through the stage directions as she is frequently sitting or leaning against objects and her irritability is abrupt and most often associated with her husband. Out of all of these symptoms though, I think the most significant one is the diminished interest in activities once found pleasurable. In Act 1, Hedda comments on her old piano saying “It doesn’t go with the rest of the things” (180). This line is significant not only because it shows Hedda feels a disconnection to past activities that once made her happy, but it also symbolically represents how Hedda feels out of place and disinterested in her new role of housewife. She says to Judge Brack on page 201 that “the most unbearable thing of all…” is to “...everlastingly having to be together with… with the self-same person…,” and on page 209 she rebuttals against Judge Brack’s comments about pregnancy saying “I’ve no aptitude for any such thing, Mr. Brack. No responsibilities for me, thank you!” Aside from the piano, and other activities mentioned in the play such as horseback riding and shooting pistols, it is certain that Hedda’s favorite “pastime” is manipulating those around her and living vicariously through their actions. However, in the final act of the play, it is clear that Hedda has no more control of those around her as she did before. It opens with a conversation between Aunt Julle and Hedda, in which Hedda realizes that no matter how much she bullies Aunt Julle she will continue to come around in hopes of a child. Then, her husband begins to plot with Mrs. Elvsted, his former flame and Hedda’s grade school object of torment, for plans for a new book that they will work on together. Hedda was already having her feelings ignored by her husband, most likely unknowingly on his end, and now he says he will “devote [his] life to this work,” implying that Hedda will be left alone even more. When she offers her help, Tesman writes her off saying Mrs. Elvsted and him don’t need any help and says to Hedda “you go and sit down again, now, with Mr. Brack.” and “We’ll just have to rely on you, dear Mr. Brack, to keep Hedda company!” (263). These lines show that now Hedda has also lost control over her husband and Mrs. Elvsted, but I think the biggest tipping point for Hedda occurs on page 259 when Judge Brack tells Hedda the truth about Lövborg’s death. Not only was his death unintentional, but Brack says about Lövborg’s final moments that “He wanted to recover something that he said they’d taken. He was talking wildly about a child that had been lost…” and Hedda replies “Oh… so that was why…” (259). Hedda learns that she didn’t actually regain control over Lövborg as she once had many years ago, that Mrs. Elvsted’s influence over him had become greater than her own. Right before she shoots herself, she plays a “wild dance tune” (263) on her piano, one last moment that shows Hedda attempting to return to her past pleasures, and she is told to stop by Tesman to which she answers “I shall be silent in future.” Hedda’s overwhelming amount of a lack of control that floods upon her in Act four, combined with the fact that Judge Brack now has her backed into a corner with blackmail, is the reason that Hedda chooses to end her life, for in death, she is “free”.
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