less and even cruel. Self-centered and unfulfilled, she ruthlessly pursues her own aims, seeking beauty above all. Yet Ibsen as a superb dramatist reveals that she worships only the surface of beauty. Consequently, she becomes mired in the superficial. Beguiling on the outside, Gabbler within herself is a disaster waiting to explode.
It might be critically argued that in Hedda Gabbler, Ibsen dramatically presents the "feminine paradox" as constructed by late 19th century social strictures. Although women are allegedly encouraged to pursue beauty at any cost, Ibsen renders Gabbler's tragedy as inscribed within her adherence to the cult of beauty over life itself. Unable to accept the constrainsts of submission expected of her, she turns to manipulating those around her, including her husband, George Tesman. Yet when the failure of her plotting suggests that she has a chance of being blackmailed by Brack, she balks. She begins to realize that it will become public knowledge how she provoked Eilert's suicide by lending him her own pistol at the peak of his vulnerability. When Brack informs her that he will hold the threat of this
revelation over her head, she responds:
I am in your power none the less. Subject to your will and your demands. A slave . . .. No, I cannot endure the thought of that! Never! (Ibsen 71)
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