Since its publication in 1890, Ibsen's Hedda Gabler has been a recurring point of fascination for readers, theater audiences, and artists alike. Newly married, yet utterly bored, the character of Hedda Gabler evokes reflection on beauty, love, passion, death, nihilism, identity, and a host of other topics of an existential nature. It is no surprise that Ibsen's work has gained the attention of philosophically-minded readers from Nietzsche, Lou Andreas-Salom , and Freud, to Adorno, Cavell, and beyond. Once staged at avant-garde theaters in Paris, London, and Berlin, Ibsen is now a global phenomenon. The enigmatic character of Hedda Gabler remains intriguing to ever-new generations of actors, audiences, and readers. Hedda Gabler occupies a privileged place in the history of European drama and as a work of literature, and, as this volume demonstrates, invites profound and worthwhile philosophical questions. Through ten newly commissioned chapters, written by leading voices in the fields of drama studies, European philosophy, Scandinavian studies, and comparative literature, this volume brings out the philosophical resonances of Hedda Gabler in particular and Ibsen's drama more broadly.

"This edition of Sally Ledger's study of Henrick Ibsen includes a renewed bibliography and an expanded critical evaluation. It surveys Ibsen's total dramatic output, carefully situating his plays in their cultural, historical and intellectual contexts. Ibsen played a seminal role in the development of modern European drama at the end of the nineteenth century. Ledger's book traces the theatrical evolution of his plays as well as considering his impact on late-Victorian London, his response to the 'woman question', his anticipation of Freudian psychology and his debt to Darwinism."--BOOK JACKET.