3.1.9, Developing Your Interpretation of Hedda Gabler In the play “Hedda Gabler”, by Henrik Ibsen, Hedda’s character is able to arise both feelings of sympathy and scorn through her actions in the play. After the actress Elizabeth Robbins played Hedda in the first English production of “Hedda Gabler” on stage, Robbins was recognized by George Bernard Shaw for playing the character of Hedda as “unsympathetically sympathetic”. The character of Hedda is a very complex one, and as an actress playing her, one would have to spend a significant amount of time developing this character in their minds. Processing Hedda’s actions in the play leads the reader or viewer of this play to see that Hedda has many problems that lie under the surface. That is to say, Hedda’s mental state is questionable. However, it is also clear in the play that although these problems are apparent in Hedda, there may have been instances in her life in which these problems could have been prevented.
