Why does hedda kill herself

Elvsted are getting along. She says that she is sure that Mrs. Elvsted will one day inspire Tesman as she did Ejlert. She then goes out to lie down and rest. Wild piano playing is heard from inside. It quiets, then a pistol goes off. Everyone rushes in. Hedda has shot herself. Tesman's desire to dedicate his life to reconstructing Ejlert's manuscript shows the fickleness and smallness of his character. A few moments earlier, he had been elated that Hedda would destroy the manuscript, but now he is horrified that Ejlert is dead, and he is eager to restore the manuscript.

It seems that he always tries to act appropriately, whatever the situation, regardless of over-arching principle. Also, it is possible that he is eager to work with Mrs. Earlier, in Act 1, Hedda hints that Mrs. Elvsted may have been involved with Tesman at some earlier date. At any rate, when Tesman plans for he and Mrs. Or, as scholars would say, Hedda is less concerned with the practicalities of the real world and more concerned with maintaining an aesthetic standard.

What does this mean? She pays attention to how things look. She wants the world to be attractive, romantic, even poetic.

She retreats into this aesthetic world to avoid dealing with the harsh realities of her crappy life. I want to be free of everything ugly. She imagines him with vine leaves in his hair, reading his book aloud, throwing restraint and order to the wind.

When we look at her actions and her words, we realize that Hedda values aesthetics over human life. But for all her solutions — retreating to an ideal fantasy, living through others, manipulating those around her — Hedda is still just a woman trapped in Norway.

She married George because, according to society, she had to marry someone. Most importantly, Hedda has to keep up appearances. She might be seething with rage inside, but she has to keep her cool on the outside. We know this is taking a toll on her, because we see that inner rage bubble up every now and then.

That leads nicely into our Big Question: Why does Hedda commit suicide? Hedda kills herself for any number of reasons. Here are a few possibilities. Remember what we were saying about women in this play needing a purpose in their lives? Well, check out the exchange between Hedda and George right before her suicide. Or her words to Judge Brack: "I have no talent for such things! And the events around her answer "yes.

If this one is true, it means that Hedda is still a coward when she dies. This is certainly the most optimistic interpretation. She proves that a noble death i. She stops living vicariously and takes strong action herself. Consequently, this pistol plays a symbolic role in the play, she uses the pistol to entertain herself, and yet it is this very pistol that takes her life away. The truth that Judge Brack told Hedda in secret was in fact that Eilert Lovborg shot himself somewhere in the stomach area and not in the chest.

What she have done was an act of courage, done in full and free will. Elvested said she could inspire Tesman, like she did with Lovborg. Elvested would be together in her absence her death.