Final Response

Hedda Gabler was an interesting play, but by no means comparable to the House of Bernarda Alba for entertainment purposes. The House of Bernarda Alba by Lorca seemed to be a bit more humorous, while still maintaining the social meaning of the story. Hedda Gabler's internal message was very difficult to find, and we got caught up in too many love triangles. You know, in a world without birth control, you'd think people would be a bit more hesitant to jump in the sack and fall in love with other people. But all that aside, the main reason why I didn't enjoy Hedda Gabler as much as Bernarda Alba was that Hedda just didn't take it far enough. Sure, one could argue that trying to facilitate an early demise to a past lover (the if I can't have you, no one will approach) could be going very far, but her death was only to escape a scandal. Adela wasn't afraid of scandal at all, as she openly declared her desire to be with Pepe el Romano. Also, I just wanted Hedda to exercise her power source, possibly go on a murder rampage? You know, like Bernarda was always hitting someone with her cane. It would have been a very good ending if Brack killed Hedda with her own pistol, but it didn't happen that way. All in all for this story, I would rate this play a sideways thumbs up.