Hedda Gabler: The piano as a dramatical tool

Abstract

In Hedda Gabler, as in A Doll House, Ibsen uses the piano not merely as part of the set decoration. The protagonist, Hedda, is strongly attached to it, and the piano music plays an important part in the structure of the play. Throughout the drama, Ibsen is constantly reminding the reader of the piano's presence or absence. Although the piano, and its music, have very important function in the construction of narratives, peripeteia and in the composition of some other Ibsen's dramas, in this particular drama, this instrument becomes the very emblem of the protagonist and the metaphor for her languishing misplacement. The culturally ingrained metaphoric of the piano is a means by which Ibsen, among other things, emphasizes relations between the different social classes of his characters. The piano is a symbol of, and a part in Hedda's attempt at perpetuation of her Gabler identity. The piano can be seen as Hedda's metaphoric twin-figure since a strong identifying bond is established between the protagonist and her piano; secondly, the metaphoric of the music Hedda plays on her piano can be taken as the dramatist's auditory comment on the protagonist's emotional state; lastly, the piano melody Hedda plays in the last scene can be interpreted as a particular 'swan-song', pointing to a possible interpretation of Hedda as an essentially poetic character. The focus of this work is, thus, on the auditory layer of the drama, and on the many metaphors offered by the inclusion of the piano as an element of the dramatic theatrical set. From this perspective, the analysis of the Ibsen's text emphasizes an important function of the auditory elements included in a dramatic work, also indicating new interdisciplinary possibilities in literary and musicological analyses.