Use of Theme, Setting and Time in Hedda GablerHedda Gabler, by Henrik Ibsen, is a play about a woman who manipulates the destinies of others to fulfill her own desires. The title character is a woman who has recently returned from a six-month "honeymoon" with her groom, Tesman, a man she does not love. She longs for freedom, but feels she can't leave her marriage. To occupy her time, she manipulates the lives of everyone around her. Hedda kills herself after becoming engulfed in her own manipulations. Through the use of theme, setting, and time period, Ibsen produces a work that uniquely portrays the sources of this manipulative woman's motivations. Whether burning her former love's manuscript or providing him with the gun to shoot himself, Hedda's malevolence shows man's capacity to have complete disregard for another's life. Hedda coldly manipulates the lives of everyone around her. Through these manipulative actions, he ruins the lives of all his acquaintances. Because she is not happy in her marriage, she tries to forbid anyone else from living a contented life. For example, after convincing Eljert Lövborg to consume alcohol, he ruins his reputation and loses something that is most precious to him: the manuscript of a book he had written with Mrs. Elvsted. Although Hedda realizes the importance of this manuscript to both Lövborg and Mrs. Elvsted, she chars it. Because Lövborg and Mrs. Elvsted have put their souls into this manuscript, Hedda metaphorically links her action to the burning of their child. This cold insouciance demonstrates Hedda's contempt for the life of another human being. Hedda's actions ultimately lead to her death. After giving... half the paper... don't manipulate your life. She doesn't want to stay in her marriage, but she lacks the courage to leave it. Because of the times and her situation, she feels she cannot leave her husband. It seems that these manipulations are a sick form of entertainment for Hedda. One could consider this work as a purely feminist work or as the story of a woman who has no respect for human life. Either way it is considered, Ibsen realistically portrays Hedda Gabler's motivations through the use of theme, setting, and current events. Works Cited Hemmer, Bjorn. "The playwright Henrik Ibsen." http://odin.dep.no/ud/nornytt/ibsen.htmlIbsen, Henrik. Four main works: A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Mazer, Cary M. “Hedda Gabler.” http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cmazer/hedda.html.