Reading Notes W11: Ibsen, Part B

• Play takes place on the west side of Norway's capital, Christiania (781)
• Berta is the maid to the Tesmans. George Tesman is the research fellow in cultural history. Hedda Tesman is George's wife. Miss Juliane Tesman is his aunt. (781)
• Berta has a new mistress, apparently. (782)
• Berta has been in Miss Tesman and Miss Rina's service for many years (782)
• Berta has looked after George since he was a little boy (782)
• Miss Tesman tells Berta to no longer call George "Mister Tesman." She should call him "Doctor Tesman" from now on (783)
• Miss Tesman is happy for George since he's married Hedda Gabbler (784)
• George says he has several friends in town who envy him (784)
• Miss Tesman points out how he took a five-month honeymoon (784)
• George has received his doctorate (785)
• He has prospects of becoming a professor (785)
• George wonders what he'll do with the two empty rooms in his home (785)
• Miss Tesman says he'll know what to do when the time comes. I think she's implying he'll have kids. The idea doesn't register with George. He thinks about his library (785)
• Miss Tesman took out a mortgage on her annuity (786)
• George comments on how his aunt never gets tired of sacrificing herself for him (786)
• George's book will bea bout the Domestic Craftsmanship Practices of Medieval Brabant (786)
• Miss Tesman has referred to "sainted Joseph" several times by this point in the play
• Miss Tesman gave George his old house slippers (787)
• Hedda says Berta won't last as a maid because she forgot her old hat. The hat actually belonged to Miss Tesman as George pointed out. Miss Tesman says the hat isn't old and that she hasn't even worn it before today (788)
• Hedda seems to have something against Miss Tesman. She doesn't really know her. She criticizes Miss Tesman's manners for leaving her hat around. She doesn't want to call her "Aunt" let alone "Aunt Julie" (789)
• Mrs. Elvsted left flower at Tesman's home (789-90)
• Mrs. Elvsted was formerly Miss Rysing. Hedda says she had "irritating hair" and points out how she used to be an "old flame" of George's (790)
• Mrs. Elvsted claims she was desperate when Hedda and George weren't home (790)
• There's some sort of trouble and she didn't know who else to turn to (790)
• Eilert Lovborg is in town (791)
• He was Mrs. Elvsted's stepchildrens' tutor (791)
• She wants George and Hedda to keep a watchful eye on Lovborg (792)
• George says he'll do anything in his power for Eilert Lovborg (792)
• Hedda forces Mrs. Elvsted into an armchair so they can have a "heart-to-heart talk" (792)
• Mrs. Elvsted says Hedda used to pull her hair. She was afraid of Hedda. Hedda on the other hand recalls them being good friends back in school since they used to call each other by their first names (793)
• Mrs. Elvsted has been married for 5 years now (793)
• Hedda lightly smacks Mrs. Elvsted's (Thea's) hand for calling her Mrs. Tesman instead of Hedda (794)
• Hedda insists she must tell her everything. Thea says ok but Hedda must ask all the questions (794)
• Thea says her husband claims he does everything for the best. Hedda mentions that he's 20 years older than Thea. Thea can't stand being with him because they don't have anything in common (794)
• Thea's husband doesn't know she's gone. She packed some of her things and left in secret (795)
• She says she's never going back (795)
• Thea claims to have had a kind power over Eilert Lovborg. She also says he's made a real human being out of her (795)
• He talks with her more than her husband. Whenever he wrote anything, they had to agree on it first. She seems like she enjoys how important she feels with him in comparison to how she feels with her husband (795)
• Thea says there's a shadow of a woman between her and Lovborg (795)
• Lovborg only briefly spoke to Thea about this woman. He said when they broke up, the woman was going to shoot him with a pistol (796)
• That woman walked around with loaded pistols (796)
• Hedda said their conversation will be strictly between the two of them. George entered the room. (796)
• Judge Brack tells George that his appointment for professorship might not come as soon as he hoped (798)
• He would be competing for the position with Lovborg (798)
• George feels entitled to the position because he's in greater need of the money and as promised the position to begin with (799)
• Hedda speaks with George. They agree she think about having uniformed servants at this moment because of their financial situation. She can't think about the horse either. She says she has one thing left to amuse herself with. She grabs pistols and runs to the inner room. (800)

Ibsen, Henrik. "Hedda Gabler." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. E, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 781-800