Background of the Study

1. Character

Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue – and by what they do – the action. Abrams, 1993: 23 According to the statement, characters are the persons who have some emotional qualities. They are manifested through the speech among the characters, or through the actions and behaviours.

2. Tragedy

According to The New Oxford American Dictionary Second Edition, tragedy is defined as “An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe” Kean, 2005: 1786. Through the quotation, it can be concluded that tragedy is closely related to the condition where suffering, distress, and even destruction occurs in a person’s life due to some events. The term “tragedy” is also defined in a literary context as representations of important actions that can results in a disastrous conclusion Abrams, 1993: 212. 6

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

Hedda Gabler is a story about Hedda, the wife of Jorgen Tesman, who has some negative personalities. One of them is ignorant. Because of her ignorance, she cannot find any happiness in her marriage although her husband really loves her. This was stated by a reviewer. She has recently married, but, for a young bride, is uncharacteristically cheerless. She lives in a grand house with a husband who adores her, but she seems unaware or apathetic of these things that could bring her joy http:hubpages.comhubStrife-A-Critical-Review-of-Ibsens-Play-Hedda- Gabler. The study above will also be a part of the discussion in this study. However, this study will not only discuss one personality, but there are more several negative personalities which will be revealed. Another statement was said by a reviewer about the main character’s characteristics. It was stated that She hides Ejlert’s manuscript and encourages him to commit suicide even hands him one of her pistol. And in the ultimate act of selfishness, she commits suicide at the end Cuizon, 2008. From this quotation, we can also see another characteristic of the main character that she is mean. She lacks the love towards other people, and it is represented by her intention not to understand Lovborg’s feelings about the lost of his manuscript. She just does not want to tell the truth so that she can destroy his feeling. Instead of handing the manuscript back to Lovborg, she tells him indirectly to do a suicide. In the play, Hedda is also represented as somebody who wants to be independent from anyone. She does not want to be considered as a unity with her husband in her marriage. Therefore, she always thinks about herself all the time, also she does not want to depend on her husband like a wife in general. This is shown through her name “Hedda Gabler”. Even though Hedda is married to Jorgen Tesman, she is presented as Hedda Gabler in the title, and later as General Gablers daughter Act I. The title does not only suggest her independence from her husband, but her independence from any other person in the play http:www.helium.comitems149636-literary-analysis-hedda-gabler-by- henrik-ibsen, 2007 . Another statement was given by Ari Nuryanti, a graduated student of Sanata Dharma University, in her thesis entitled The Significance of Symbols as a Reflection of Hedda’s Authoritarian Character in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. She also said that the main character, Hedda, is a selfish person. It is represented through her action that she cannot place herself in an appropriate situation and does not care about other people’s feeling. This is the following statement. Here, Hedda’s selfishness is showed by her playing music in a wrong situation. She plays wild dance tone while the people in the house are sad about Lovborg and Aunt Rina’s death. She does not care about other’s feeling. It shows Hedda as an authoritative person supported by her selfishness 2000: 32. It is also discussed in Ari Nuryanti’s undergraduate thesis that Hedda is a person who is authoritative. Her authoritarian is represented through a pistol which can harm people. She said that Hedda uses the pistol to make fun of peple’s lives. The pistols have important meaning for Hedda because they can be good companions when she is lonely and she has nothing to do. Unfortunately, she also uses it to get her own satisfaction and forget others’ safety. She uses to make fun of other’s life and to play God 2000: 25. Another concept of authoritarianism is also discussed in the other undergraduate thesis entitled The Concept of Determinism as Reflected in the Dramatic Character in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler by Ririn Mardiana. It is stated that Hedda has an influence to make someone inferior and make someone to do something that she wants. Hedda has power toward Miss Tesman. She can make Miss Tesman feels inferior. In order to please Hedda, she buys a new bonnet and parasol. She has bought those things without Hedda’s knowing before. This means Hedda can influence other people to do something to please her. Hence, Hedda has the power over the Tesmans 2000: 36. It is also discussed in Mardiana’s undergraduate thesis that Hedda is represented as a cruel character. It can be seen through the way she dresses in black. In act IV Hedda dresses in black. Besides showing her condolence toward her aunt’s death, her dress shows how dark her heart is. In this act, it presents the darkness of the spirit that she has. She is cold, cruel, and hypocritical. Those characteristics are shown in the other details of her dramatic character 2000: 36. After seeing all the studies that have been quoted above, we can see that there are various kinds of opinions and analysis about the play. Some studies say that the main character has the authoritative sides. Some studies also say that the main character has negative characteristics. However, this study will not only discuss the characteristics of the main character like in the other studies. This study will also give further discussion on the contribution of the characteristics to one aspect in life, in this case, to the tragedy.