Hedda Gabler Lesson Plan

Who is Judge Brack, and what is his relationship with the Tesman family?

Judge Brack is an acquaintance of Tesman’s, but when he reappears in the second act of the play, his attention seems to be fixated on Hedda. Hedda seems to relish this fact, but she avows later to Eilert Løvborg that she has no intentions of cuckolding Tesman. Thus, although there is an undercurrent of sexual tension in Brack’s and Hedda’s interactions, only Brack seems to be interested in sex. In contrast, what seems to matter most to Hedda is being a center of attention, as was the case during her livelier days as a bachelorette.

What are the personal factors that most constrain Hedda’s actions...