Henrik Ibsen, in Hedda Gabler, tells the story of a woman who is completely shaped by her environment and who never tries to overcome that environment. Frederick Douglass, in his autobiography Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, tells the story of a man who is only partly shaped by his environment, because he fights against and finally escapes that environment to become a free human being. The great difference between the two protagonists is that Gabler never begins to even try to overcome her environment, while Douglass struggles against his environment and turns himself into an educated and independent human being. The point of view of Marx can be used to understand these works. Gabler can be said to represent the slave, serf or worker class, ruled over by the oppressor class which owns property and rules with power and fear. Gabler stays in the slave class, alienated from herself and never really having any idea of what is going on in her life or why she is so unhappy. Douglass also belongs to the slave class, literally, but unlike Gabler he struggles against his situation and comes out victorious. Douglass can be seen as the worker who fights the class struggle and wins, at least as an individual. Gabler is a woman who never even understands that there is a class struggle going on. In Marxist theory, she is an individual oppressed by a society which gives most economic and political power to men. Her corruption shows itself in her ignorance about her situation and in the destructive way she treats others.
Ibsen wants the audience to see the power of the social, political and sexual environment to shape a woman's character. To Ibsen, as shown in this play, a woman can be a slave to her environment, but this does not have to be so. Gabler is a slave to her environment because she does not even know she is a slave and therefore cannot even try to overcome it. It is an environment ruled by men. At the same time, Ibsen s...