Hedda Gabler by Ibsen portrays the social roles of gender and sex through Hedda as a character who tries to break the status quo of gender relations in the Victorian era. The social conditions and principles that Ibsen presents in Hedda Gabler are of crucial importance as they “constitute the shaping and tempering forces that dictate the behavior of all the characters in the play” with each character part of a “tightly woven social fabric” (Kildahl ). Hedda is an example of perverse femininity in a depraved society intent on sacrificing its own self-interest and the individual freedom and expression of its members. It describes the problems of unequal relationship between the sexes of the 19th century, with men as the independent factor and women as the dependent factor. Many of the other female characters are portrayed as "decent women" while also demonstrating their more surreptitious power through manipulation. Hedda Gabler is all about control and individualism through language and manipulation and through this play Ibsen shows how each gender gains or is denied it. Hedda is a product of the nineteenth century, when women were ordained to become actual spinsters (like George's aunts) or modest governesses (like Mrs. Elvsted), yet Hedda is an anomaly. She was raised by a dominant father and rebels against his leadership while simultaneously reveling in his power. General Gabler taught Hedda to ride and shoot, which symbolizes the origin of her attraction to the violent and romantic, Hedda's intense preoccupation with guns, her desire to have control over another individual's destiny and to take part in the public life of men, her rejection of family life manifested itself in her sometimes badly...... middle of paper ...... complexity of the social environment of the time and place” ( Kildalh). Works Cited Embler, Weller. “A Note on Ibsen's “Hedda Gabler”” College English 7.8 (1946): 456-58.JSTOR. Network. November 25, 2013. Kildahl, Erling E. “The “Social Conditions and Principles” of “Hedda Gabler”” EducationalTheatre Journal 13.3 (1961): 207-13. JSTOR. Network. November 25, 2013. Spacks, Patricia M. “The World of Hedda Gabler.” The Tulane Drama Review 7.1 (1962): 155-64. JSTOR. Network. November 25, 2013. Thresher, Tanya. "'Vinløv I Håret': the relationship between women, language and power in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler." Modern Drama 51.1 (2008): 73-83. MLA international bibliography. Network. November 25, 2013. Thresher, Tanya. “The Performance of Sex and Gender in Oslo Nye Dukketeatrets HeddaGabler.” Scandinavian Studies 78.4 (2006): 405-418. MLA international bibliography. Network. November 25. 2013.