Points of View in Realism

Points of View in Realism

“‘Good morning, dear Miss Tesman. What an early hour to call. So kind of you.” Says Hedda./ ‘No, really not, thank you. I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need. I must see about getting back home. My poor dear sister will be waiting for me,’ says Miss Tesman to Hedda./ Be sure to give her my love, won’t you? Tell her I’ll run over to see her later today, says Tesman to Miss Tesman’”

Henrik Ibsen focused on Realism for the tale of Hedda Gabler, yet one can not help but to review the realities of each individual character. The Realism movement came after the Romanticism era, which they are seemingly are flowing in a sequence. In the movement of realism; we are to believe that all of the personalities of the characters, all of the settings they are in, and all of their interactions are totally independent from the authors own feelings. “The personality of the author was to be suppressed or was at least to recede into the background, since reality was to be seen ‘as it is’.” (837) One can not help but wonder, is the reality of the realism movement is real as in contrast to another era such as Romanticism which included many self indulgences, and an escape from the normalities of life, or is this movement a true display of how the characters would behave if in fact they were living in today’s world. Ibsen paid a great deal of attention to the detail of what the character was doing for example if one was to stomp away in anger, sigh, laugh, cough, smile and other facial or body movements, which were of great help to audience to fully understand the mood of an given character. Ibsen’s description of reality is greatly conveyed throughout the play by use of the narrator whom is not biased in any way, and not letting any of the characters tell the tale by his or her own perspective which could allow them to tell the story in their favor. Focusing on the individual character’s traits and feelings may be able to stop the prior mentioned rhetorical questions about the reality of the play it self.

Individuality is key in all aspects dealing with people, be they real of fictional, in order to allow contrast from one character to the next. There are realities of the play as a whole, but then there are realities as they relate to each individual person, because here is where the point of views differs even as they relate to the same plot. The woman with the tale as a namesake, Hedda Gabler, has a reality that is vastly different from all other people involved in the play. “She’s [Hedda] a real lady. Wants everything just so,” says Bertha. “But of course she does! General Gabler’s daughter!” says Miss Tesman (1227) Hedda was accustomed to a certain way of living in which her finances were more than the means that she had married into just months before. Hedda often seemed extraordinarily rude to not only the wait staff, but to her friends and most of all husband and his dear aunt, which is most baffling about this particular characters interaction with others. “Good morning Miss Tesman. What an early hour to call. So kind of you.” (1231)