Ibsen's Hedda Gabler

Philosophical Perspectives

Edited by Kristin Gjesdal

Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature

Presents ten newly commissioned chapters on the philosophical tenors of Ibsen's drama
Brings Ibsen into dialogue with modern European philosophy
Demonstrates the philosophical valor and relevance of drama
Addresses an audience of experts and general readers alike

Ibsen's Hedda Gabler

Philosophical Perspectives

Edited by Kristin Gjesdal

Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature

Description

Since its publication in 1890, Ibsen's Hedda Gabler has been a recurring point of fascination for readers, theater audiences, and artists alike. Newly married, yet utterly bored, the character of Hedda Gabler evokes reflection on beauty, love, passion, death, nihilism, identity, and a host of other topics of an existential nature. It is no surprise that Ibsen's work has gained the attention of philosophically-minded readers from Nietzsche, Lou Andreas-Salomé, and Freud, to Adorno, Cavell, and beyond. Once staged at avant-garde theaters in Paris, London, and Berlin, Ibsen is now a global phenomenon. The enigmatic character of Hedda Gabler remains intriguing to ever-new generations of actors, audiences, and readers.

Hedda Gabler occupies a privileged place in the history of European drama and as a work of literature, and, as this volume demonstrates, invites profound and worthwhile philosophical questions. Through ten newly commissioned chapters, written by leading voices in the fields of drama studies, European philosophy, Scandinavian studies, and comparative literature, this volume brings out the philosophical resonances of Hedda Gabler in particular and Ibsen's drama more broadly.

Ibsen's Hedda Gabler

Philosophical Perspectives

Edited by Kristin Gjesdal

Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature

Series Editor Foreword
Contributors
Abbreviations
Editor's Introduction
1. Nihilism and Boredom in Hedda Gabler, Leonardo F. Lisi
2. Where Hedda Dies: The Significance of Place Susan L. Feagin
3. Hedda Gabler and the Uses of Beauty Thomas Stern
4. The Scars of Modern Life: Hedda Gabler in Adorno's Prism Frode Helland
5. "My Life had stood, a Loaded Gun": Agency and Writing in Hedda Gabler, Arnold Weinstein
6. Philosophy, Theater and Love: Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and Plato's Symposium, Kristin Boyce
7. Hedda's Words: The Work of Language in Hedda Gabler, Toril Moi
8. Against Interpretation? Hedda and the Performing Self Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr
9. Two Pistols and Some Papers: Kierkegaard's Seducer and Hedda's Gambit Fred Rush
10. Ibsen on History and Historians: Hedda Gabler in a Nietzschean Light Kristin Gjesdal
Bibliography
Index

Ibsen's Hedda Gabler

Philosophical Perspectives

Edited by Kristin Gjesdal

Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature

Author Information

Edited by Kristin Gjesdal, Associate Professor, Temple University

Kristin Gjesdal is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Temple University and Professor II of Philosophy at the University of Oslo. She is the author of Gadamer and The Legacy of German Idealism (CUP, 2009), Herder's Hermeneutics: History, Poetry, Enlightenment (CUP, 2017), and a number of articles in the areas of aesthetics, hermeneutics, and nineteenth-century philosophy. Kristin Gjesdal also works in philosophy of literature, with a special emphasis on Shakespeare and Ibsen. She is the editor of Key Debates in Nineteenth Century European Philosophy (Routledge, 2016), the coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of German Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century (OUP, 2015) and the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Hermeneutics, and an area editor of nineteenth-century philosophy for The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Contributors:

Kristin Boyce, Mississippi State University
Susan L. Feagin, Temple University
Kristin Gjesdal, Temple University and University of Oslo
Frode Helland, University of Oslo
Leonardo F. Lisi, Johns Hopkins University
Tori Moi, Duke University
Fred Rush, University of Notre Dame
Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr, University of Oxford and St. Catherine's College, Oxford
Tom Stern, University College London
Arnold Weinstein, Brown University

Ibsen's Hedda Gabler

Philosophical Perspectives

Edited by Kristin Gjesdal

Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature

Reviews and Awards

"When all is said and done, Ibsen's Hedda Gabler: Philosophical Perspectives is a book brimming with intriguing claims and (dis)associations. It is absolutely valuable reading for those who wish to continue to challenge their understanding of what might be Ibsen's most challenging play." - Ibsen Studies

"The book demonstrates philosophy's ability to reveal new meanings embodied in works of literature or deepen existing ones... the book offers a unique opportunity to think not only of how philosophy reveals new depths in the play but how the play... renews our ways of doing philosophy and opens the door to reflection on philosophical questions in aesthetics, ethics, and politics, such as the ways in which artistic representation shapes and redefines existing social and ethical norms. [The book] offers novel and stimulating studies of the play. [I]t will certainly be of interest to Ibsen scholars, providing fresh perspectives on the play by looking at the philosophical questions that it conjures...But precisely because it examines the play as the birthplace for such questions, the book has much to offer to nonspecialists as well—to students and researchers who are interested in the relationship between philosophy and literature more broadly." - The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

"Kristin Gjesdal (...) has collected ten essays from philosophers, literary scholars, and theatre historians who unpack Ibsen's Hedda Gabler through the lens of a range of philosophers (Nietzsche, Adorno, Plato, Hegel, and Kierkegaard) and philosophies (existentialism, nihilism, language, freedom, action, boredom, and aesthetics). (...) the contributors to Gjesdal's edited volume provide a plethora of inspiring insights into the work of a dramatist whose plays themselves have inspired performances then, now, and into the future."

"Nothing is particularly novel or ground-breaking about this pairing of Ibsen and philosophy... This volume, however, goes far beyond Nietzschean commentary, and in my view succeeds in unpacking the depth and breadth of philosophical engagement the play allows for...There are many thought-provoking analyses contained in the volume...This book is an important contribution to the voluminous scholarship on Ibsen's play, if for no other reason than that it demonstrates the incredible range of philosophical approaches that Hedda Gabler invites. Beyond that, the individual chapters 'talk to' each other in a way that edited collections often do not...The breadth and variety of these chapters (which still enjoy some level of cohesiveness, perhaps due to Gjesdal's editorial efforts) make it a worthwhile addition to the library of any scholar of modern theatre and its intersections with philosophy." - The Modern Language Review

"Hedda Gabbler is a fascinating character and a powerful embodiment of modernity; and in collecting an impressive set of essays that tackle a wide range of philosophical questions provoked and addressed by this play, Kristin Gjesdal has performed a great service both for lovers of Ibsen and for anyone concerned with modernism and feminism." - Jonathan Culler, Cornell University

"A wide-ranging volume that presents a series of diverse philosophical openings from Plato, to Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Adorno, Wittgenstein, and Butler onto what is one of the most engaging, challenging, and disorienting plays in the modern canon. All students of Ibsen's great play will find their reading enlightened, deepened, and troubled by these thoughtful and thought-provoking essays." - Jay Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, The New School