Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen presents the public with a paradoxical protagonist, Hedda Tesman. Ibsen's description of Hedda presents her as a petty and frivolous woman whose only motivation is to seek her own amusement without regard for those around her. If some tragedy had befallen Hedda in her formative years and thus transformed her into the cold, unfeeling woman she would become, Ibsen purposely omits it from this play: whatever judgments the audience may make about Hedda as a character must derive almost exclusively from behaviors he exhibits in each of the four acts of the opera. Ibsen does not intend his audience to readily sympathize with Hedda. By not making Hedda endearing to its audience, the theme of her suicide in the final act becomes even more baffling, surprising and, incidentally, more interesting. By limiting the audience's access to Hedda's emotional development as a character, Ibsen is able to create a character infinitely more complex than one who simply succumbs to the crushing agony of a perpetually painful life. Ibsen intended to burn into the collective minds of his audience the question of why Hedda saw suicide as her only viable option. To a less attentive observer, Hedda's suicide could be perceived as the senseless end of a senseless existence. A careful and thoughtful analysis of the play, however, reveals that a perfect storm of circumstances coalesce to create a climate in which Hedda is driven to her final act of desperation. Throughout the play, Hedda displays a general dissatisfaction with life. By marrying a man she finds almost unbearably boring, Hedda resigns herself to a life of excruciating boredom. Her status as a general's daughter had perhaps afforded her some opportunities in her count... middle of paper... sadistic. Hedda's behavior towards Loevborg, who did nothing to deserve Hedda's fatal influence, can easily be classified as monstrous. Furthermore, his vengeance towards Tesman, Thea, and even Miss Juliana, as well as his harsh treatment of Bertha, all serve to create a character easily dismissed as entirely evil. However, despite her transgressions against those around her, one must also consider the crushing helplessness Hedda had to endure. Despite her gifts of keen perception and deft social maneuverability, the general's daughter could not hope to do better for herself than to marry an uninteresting scholar and embrace the role of motherhood, whether she wished to be a mother or not. Finally, the fact that the one moment in Hedda's life when she felt truly in control of her own destiny also sadly marked her final moment deserves at least some measure of compassion..