Act II

The room at the Tesmans’ as in the first Act, except that the piano has been removed, and an elegant little writing table with the bookshelves put in its place. A smaller table stands near the sofa on the left. Most of the bouquets have been taken away. Mrs. Elvsted’s bouquet is upon the large table in front.—It is afternoon.

	Hedda, dressed to receive callers, is alone in the room. She stands by the open glass door, loading a revolver. The fellow to it lies in an open pistol case on the writing table.
Hedda	Looks down the garden, and calls: So you are here again, Judge!
Brack	Is heard calling from a distance. As you see, Mrs. Tesman!
Hedda	Raises the pistol and points. Now I’ll shoot you, Judge Brack!
Brack	Calling unseen. No, no, no! Don’t stand aiming at me!
Hedda	This is what comes of sneaking in by the back way.14 She fires.
Brack	Nearer. Are you out of your senses—!
Hedda	Dear me—did I happen to hit you?
Brack	Still outside. I wish you would let these pranks alone!
Hedda	Come in then, Judge.
	Judge Brack, dressed as though for a men’s party, enters by the glass door. He carries a light overcoat over his arm.
Brack	What the deuce—haven’t you tired of that sport, yet? What are you shooting at?
Hedda	Oh, I am only firing in the air.
Brack	Gently takes the pistol out of her hand. Allow me, madam! Looks at it. Ah—I know this pistol well! Looks around. Where is the case? Ah, here it is. Lays the pistol in it, and shuts it. Now we won’t play at that game any more today.
Hedda	Then what in heaven’s name would you have me do with myself?
Brack	Have you had no visitors?
Hedda	Closing the glass door. Not one. I suppose all our set are still out of town.
Brack	And is Tesman not at home either?
Hedda	At the writing table, putting the pistol case in a drawer which she shuts. No. He rushed off to his aunt’s directly after lunch; he didn’t expect you so early.
Brack	H’m—how stupid of me not to have thought of that!
Hedda	Turning her head to look at him. Why stupid?
Brack	Because if I had thought of it I should have come a little—earlier.
Hedda	Crossing the room. Then you would have found no one to receive you; for I have been in my room changing my dress ever since lunch.
Brack	And is there no sort of little chink that we could hold a parley through?
Hedda	You have forgotten to arrange one.
Brack	That was another piece of stupidity.
Hedda	Well, we must just settle down here—and wait. Tesman is not likely to be back for some time yet.
Brack	Never mind; I shall not be impatient.
	Hedda seats herself in the corner of the sofa. Brack lays his overcoat over the back of the nearest chair, and sits down, but keeps his hat in his hand. A short silence. They look at each other.
Hedda	Well?
Brack	In the same tone. Well?
Hedda	I spoke first.
Brack	Bending a little forward. Come, let us have a cosy little chat, Mrs. Hedda.15
Hedda	Leaning further back in the sofa. Does it not seem like a whole eternity since our last talk? Of course I don’t count those few words yesterday evening and this morning.
Brack	You mean since out last confidential talk? Our last tête-à-tête?
Hedda	Well yes—since you put it so.
Brack	Not a day passed but I have wished that you were home again.
Hedda	And I have done nothing but wish the same thing.
Brack	You? Really, Mrs. Hedda? And I thought you had been enjoying your tour so much!
Hedda	Oh yes, you may be sure of that!
Brack	But Tesman’s letters spoke of nothing but happiness.
Hedda	Oh, Tesman! You see, he thinks nothing is so delightful as grubbing in libraries and making copies of old parchments, or whatever you call them.
Brack	With a smile of malice. Well, that is his vocation in life—or part of it at any rate.
Hedda	Yes, of course; and no doubt when it’s your vocation—. But I! Oh, my dear Mr. Brack, how mortally bored I have been.
Brack	Sympathetically. Do you really say so? In downright earnest?
Hedda	Yes, you can surely understand it—! To go for six whole months without meeting a soul that knew anything of our circle, or could talk about things we were interested in.
Brack	Yes, yes—I too should feel that a deprivation.
Hedda	And then, what I found most intolerable of all—
Brack	Well?
Hedda	—was being everlastingly in the company of—one and the same person—
Brack	With a nod of assent. Morning, noon, and night, yes—at all possible times and seasons.
Hedda	I said “everlastingly.”
Brack	Just so. But I should have thought, with our excellent Tesman, one could—
Hedda	Tesman is—a specialist, my dear Judge.
Brack	Undeniable.
Hedda	And specialists are not at all amusing to travel with. Not in the long run at any rate.
Brack	Not even—the specialist one happens to love?
Hedda	Faugh—don’t use that sickening word!
Brack	Taken aback. What do you say, Mrs. Hedda?
Hedda	Half laughing, half irritated. You should just try it! To hear of nothing but the history of civilisation, morning, noon, and night—
Brack	Everlastingly.
Hedda	Yes yes yes! And then all this about the domestic industry of the middle ages—! That’s the most disgusting part of it!
Brack	Looks searchingly at her. But tell me—in that case, how am I to understand your—? H’m—
Hedda	My accepting George Tesman, you mean?
Brack	Well, let us put it so.
Hedda	Good heavens, do you see anything so wonderful in that?
Brack	Yes and no—Mrs. Hedda.
Hedda	I had positively danced myself tired, my dear Judge. My day was done—With a slight shudder. Oh no—I won’t say that; nor think it either!
Brack	You have assuredly no reason to.
Hedda	Oh, reasons—Watching him closely. And George Tesman—after all, you must admit that he is correctness itself.
Brack	His correctness and respectability are beyond all question.
Hedda	And I don’t see anything absolutely ridiculous about him.—Do you?
Brack	Ridiculous? N—no—I shouldn’t exactly say so—
Hedda	Well—and his powers of research, at all events, are untiring.—I see no reason why he should not one day come to the front, after all.
Brack	Looks at her hesitatingly. I thought that you, like everyone else, expected him to attain the highest distinction.
Hedda	With an expression of fatigue. Yes, so I did.—And then, since he was bent, at all hazards, on being allowed to provide for me—I really don’t know why I should not have accepted his offer?
Brack	No—if you look at it in that light—
Hedda	It was more than my other adorers were prepared to do for me, my dear Judge.
Brack	Laughing. Well, I can’t answer for all the rest; but as for myself, you know quite well that I have always entertained a—a certain respect for the marriage tie—for marriage as an institution, Mrs. Hedda.
Hedda	Jestingly. Oh, I assure you I have never cherished any hopes with respect to you.
Brack	All I require is a pleasant and intimate interior, where I can make myself useful in every way, and am free to come and go as—as a trusted friend—
Hedda	Of the master of the house, do you mean?
Brack	Bowing. Frankly—of the mistress first of all; but of course of the master too, in the second place. Such a triangular friendship—if I may call it so—is really a great convenience for all the parties, let me tell you.
Hedda	Yes, I have many a time longed for someone to make a third on our travels. Oh—those railway carriage tête-à-têtes—!
Brack	Fortunately your wedding journey is over now.
Hedda	Shaking her head. Not by a long—long way. I have only arrived at a station on the line.
Brack	Well, then the passengers jump out and move about a little, Mrs. Hedda.
Hedda	I never jump out.
Brack	Really?
Hedda	No—because there is always someone standing by to—
Brack	Laughing. To look at your ankles, do you mean?
Hedda	Precisely.
Brack	Well but, dear me—
Hedda	With a gesture of repulsion. I won’t have it. I would rather keep my seat where I happen to be—and continue the tête-à-tête.
Brack	But suppose a third person were to jump in and join the couple.
Hedda	Ah—that is quite another matter!
Brack	A trusted, sympathetic friend—
Hedda	—with a fund of conversation on all sorts of lively topics—
Brack	—and not the least bit of a specialist!
Hedda	With an audible sigh. Yes, that would be a relief indeed.
Brack	Hears the front door open, and glances in that direction. The triangle is completed.
Hedda	Half aloud. And on goes the train.
	George Tesman, in a grey walking suit, with a soft felt hat, enters from the hall. He has a number of unbound books under his arm and in his pockets.
Tesman	Goes up to the table beside the corner settee. Ouf—what a load for a warm day—all these books. Lays them on the table. I’m positively perspiring, Hedda. Hallo—are you there already, my dear Judge? Eh? Berta didn’t tell me.
Brack	Rising. I came in through the garden.
Hedda	What books have you got there?
Tesman	Stands looking them through. Some new books on my special subjects—quite indispensable to me.
Hedda	Your special subjects?
Brack	Yes, books on his special subjects, Mrs. Tesman.
	Brack and Hedda exchange a confidential smile.
Hedda	Do you need still more books on your special subjects?
Tesman	Yes, my dear Hedda, one can never have too many of them. Of course one must keep up with all that is written and published.
Hedda	Yes, I suppose one must.
Tesman	Searching among his books. And look here—I have got hold of Eilert Lövborg’s new book too. Offering it to her. Perhaps you would like to glance through it, Hedda? Eh?
Hedda	No, thank you. Or rather—afterwards perhaps.
Tesman	I looked into it a little on the way home.
Brack	Well, what do you think of it—as a specialist?
Tesman	I think it shows quite remarkable soundness of judgment. He never wrote like that before. Putting the books together. Now I shall take all these into my study. I’m longing to cut the leaves—! And then I must change my clothes. To Brack. I suppose we needn’t start just yet? Eh?
Brack	Oh, dear no—there is not the slightest hurry.
Tesman	Well then, I will take my time. Is going with his books, but stops in the doorway and turns. By the by, Hedda—Aunt Julia is not coming this evening.
Hedda	Not coming? Is it that affair of the bonnet that keeps her away?
Tesman	Oh, not at all. How could you think such a thing of Aunt Julia? Just fancy—! The fact is, Aunt Rina is very ill.
Hedda	She always is.
Tesman	Yes, but today she is much worse than usual, poor dear.
Hedda	Oh, then it’s only natural that her sister should remain with her. I must bear my disappointment.
Tesman	And you can’t imagine, dear, how delighted Aunt Julia seemed to be—because you had come home looking so flourishing!
Hedda	Half aloud, rising. Oh, those everlasting Aunts!
Tesman	What?
Hedda	Going to the glass door. Nothing.
Tesman	Oh, all right. He goes through the inner room, out to the right.
Brack	What bonnet were you talking about?
Hedda	Oh, it was a little episode with Miss Tesman this morning. She had laid down her bonnet on the chair there—Looks at him and smiles.—and I pretended to think it was the servant’s.
Brack	Shaking his head. Now my dear Mrs. Hedda, how could you do such a thing? To the excellent old lady, too!
Hedda	Nervously crossing the room. Well, you see—these impulses come over me all of a sudden; and I cannot resist them. Throws herself down in the easy chair by the stove. Oh, I don’t know how to explain it.
Brack	Behind the easy chair. You are not really happy—that is at the bottom of it.
Hedda	Looking straight before her. I know of no reason why I should be—happy. Perhaps you can give me one?
Brack	Well—amongst other things, because you have got exactly the home you had set your heart on.
Hedda	Looks up at him and laughs. Do you too believe in that legend?
Brack	Is there nothing in it, then?
Hedda	Oh yes, there is something in it.
Brack	Well?
Hedda	There is this in it, that I made use of Tesman to see me home from evening parties last summer—
Brack	I, unfortunately, had to go quite a different way.
Hedda	That’s true. I know you were going a different way last summer.
Brack	Laughing. Oh fie, Mrs. Hedda! Well, then—you and Tesman—?
Hedda	Well, we happened to pass here one evening; Tesman, poor fellow, was writhing in the agony of having to find conversation; so I took pity on the learned man—
Brack	Smiles doubtfully. You took pity? H’m—
Hedda	Yes, I really did. And so—to help him out of his torment—I happened to say, in pure thoughtlessness, that I should like to live in this villa.
Brack	No more than that?
Hedda	Not that evening.
Brack	But afterwards?
Hedda	Yes, my thoughtlessness had consequences, my dear Judge.
Brack	Unfortunately that too often happens, Mrs. Hedda.
Hedda	Thanks! So you see it was this enthusiasm for Secretary Falk’s villa that first constituted a bond of sympathy between George Tesman and me. From that came our engagement and our marriage, and our wedding journey, and all the rest of it. Well, well, my dear Judge—as you make your bed so you must lie, I could almost say.
Brack	This is exquisite! And you really cared not a rap about it all the time?
Hedda	No, heaven knows I didn’t.
Brack	But now? Now that we have made it so homelike for you?
Hedda	Uh—the rooms all seem to smell of lavender and dried rose leaves.—But perhaps it’s Aunt Julia that has brought that scent with her.
Brack	Laughing. No, I think it must be a legacy from the late Mrs. Secretary Falk.
Hedda	Yes, there is an odour of mortality about it. It reminds me of a bouquet—the day after the ball. Clasps her hands behind her head, leans back in her chair and looks at him. Oh, my dear Judge—you cannot imagine how horribly I shall bore myself here.
Brack	Why should not you, too, find some sort of vocation in life, Mrs. Hedda?
Hedda	A vocation—that should attract me?
Brack	If possible, of course.
Hedda	Heaven knows what sort of a vocation that could be. I often wonder whether—Breaking off. But that would never do either.
Brack	Who can tell? Let me hear what it is.
Hedda	Whether I might not get Tesman to go into politics, I mean.
Brack	Laughing. Tesman? No really now, political life is not the thing for him—not at all in his line.
Hedda	No, I daresay not.—But if I could get him into it all the same?
Brack	Why—what satisfaction could you find in that? If he is not fitted for that sort of thing, why should you want to drive him into it?
Hedda	Because I am bored, I tell you! After a pause. So you think it quite out of the question that Tesman should ever get into the ministry?
Brack	H’m—you see, my dear Mrs. Hedda—to get into the ministry, he would have to be a tolerably rich man.
Hedda	Rising impatiently. Yes, there we have it! It is this genteel poverty I have managed to drop into—! Crosses the room. That is what makes life so pitiable! So utterly ludicrous!—For that’s what it is.
Brack	Now I should say the fault lay elsewhere.
Hedda	Where, then?
Brack	You have never gone through any really stimulating experience.
Hedda	Anything serious, you mean?
Brack	Yes, you may call it so. But now you may perhaps have one in store.
Hedda	Tossing her head. Oh, you’re thinking of the annoyances about this wretched professorship! But that must be Tesman’s own affair. I assure you I shall not waste a thought upon it.
Brack	No, no, I daresay not. But suppose now that what people call—in elegant language—a solemn responsibility were to come upon you? Smiling. A new responsibility, Mrs. Hedda?
Hedda	Angrily. Be quiet! Nothing of that sort will ever happen!
Brack	Warily. We will speak of this again a year hence—at the very outside.
Hedda	Curtly. I have no turn for anything of the sort, Judge Brack. No responsibilities for me!
Brack	Are you so unlike the generality of women as to have no turn for duties which—?
Hedda	Beside the glass door. Oh, be quiet, I tell you!—I often think there is only one thing in the world I have any turn for.
Brack	Drawing near to her. And what is that, if I may ask?
Hedda	Stands looking out. Boring myself to death. Now you know it. Turns, looks towards the inner room, and laughs. Yes, as I thought! Here comes the Professor.
Brack	Softly, in a tone of warning. Come, come, come, Mrs. Hedda!
	George Tesman, dressed for the party, with his gloves and hat in his hand, enters from the right through the inner room.
Tesman	Hedda, has no message come from Eilert Lövborg? Eh?
Hedda	No.
Tesman	Then you’ll see he’ll be here presently.
Brack	Do you really think he will come?
Tesman	Yes, I am almost sure of it. For what you were telling us this morning must have been a mere floating rumour.
Brack	You think so?
Tesman	At any rate, Aunt Julia said she did not believe for a moment that he would ever stand in my way again. Fancy that!
Brack	Well then, that’s all right.
Tesman	Placing his hat and gloves on a chair on the right. Yes, but you must really let me wait for him as long as possible.
Brack	We have plenty of time yet. None of my guests will arrive before seven or half past.
Tesman	Then meanwhile we can keep Hedda company, and see what happens. Eh?
Hedda	Placing Brack’s* hat and overcoat upon the corner settee.* And at the worst Mr. Lövborg can remain here with me.
Brack	Offering to take his things. Oh, allow me, Mrs. Tesman!—What do you mean by “At the worst”?
Hedda	If he won’t go with you and Tesman.
Tesman	Looks dubiously at her. But, Hedda dear—do you think it would quite do for him to remain here with you? Eh? Remember, Aunt Julia can’t come.
Hedda	No, but Mrs. Elvsted is coming. We three can have a cup of tea together.
Tesman	Oh yes, that will be all right.
Brack	Smiling. And that would perhaps be the safest plan for him.
Hedda	Why so?
Brack	Well, you know, Mrs. Tesman, how you used to gird at my little bachelor parties. You declared they were adapted only for men of the strictest principles.
Hedda	But no doubt Mr. Lövborg’s principles are strict enough now. A converted sinner—Berta appears at the hall door.
Berta	There’s a gentleman asking if you are at home, ma’am—
Hedda	Well, show him in.
Tesman	Softly. I’m sure it is he! Fancy that!
	Eilert Lövborg enters from the hall. He is slim and lean; of the same age as Tesman, but looks older and somewhat worn-out. His hair and beard are of a blackish brown, his face long and pale, but with patches of colour on the cheeks. He is dressed in a well-cut black visiting suit, quite new. He has dark gloves and a silk hat. He stops near the door, and makes a rapid bow, seeming somewhat embarrassed.
Tesman	Goes up to him and shakes him warmly by the hand. Well, my dear Eilert—so at last we meet again!
Eilert Lövborg	Speaks in a subdued voice. Thanks for your letter, Tesman. Approaching Hedda. Will you too shake hands with me, Mrs. Tesman?
Hedda	Taking his hand. I am glad to see you, Mr. Lövborg. With a motion of her hand. I don’t know whether you two gentlemen—?
Lövborg	Bowing slightly. Judge Brack, I think.
Brack	Doing likewise. Oh yes—in the old days—
Tesman	To Lövborg, with his hands on his shoulders. And now you must make yourself entirely at home, Eilert! Mustn’t he, Hedda?—For I hear you are going to settle in town again? Eh?
Lövborg	Yes, I am.
Tesman	Quite right, quite right. Let me tell you, I have got hold of your new book; but I haven’t had time to read it yet.
Lövborg	You may spare yourself the trouble.
Tesman	Why so?
Lövborg	Because there is very little in it.
Tesman	Just fancy—how can you say so?
Brack	But it has been very much praised, I hear.
Lövborg	That was what I wanted; so I put nothing into the book but what everyone would agree with.
Brack	Very wise of you.
Tesman	Well but, my dear Eilert—!
Lövborg	For now I mean to win myself a position again—to make a fresh start.
Tesman	A little embarrassed. Ah, that is what you wish to do? Eh?
Lövborg	Smiling, lays down his hat, and draws a packet wrapped in paper, from his coat pocket. But when this one appears, George Tesman, you will have to read it. For this is the real book—the book I have put my true self into.
Tesman	Indeed? And what is it?
Lövborg	It is the continuation.
Tesman	The continuation? Of what?
Lövborg	Of the book.
Tesman	Of the new book?
Lövborg	Of course.
Tesman	Why, my dear Eilert—does it not come down to our own days?
Lövborg	Yes, it does; and this one deals with the future.
Tesman	With the future! But, good heavens, we know nothing of the future!
Lövborg	No; but there is a thing or two to be said about it all the same. Opens the packet. Look here—
Tesman	Why, that’s not your handwriting.
Lövborg	I dictated it. Turning over the pages. It falls into two sections. The first deals with the civilising forces of the future. And here is the second—running through the pages towards the end—forecasting the probable line of development.
Tesman	How odd now! I should never have thought of writing anything of that sort.
Hedda	At the glass door, drumming on the pane. H’m—. I daresay not.
Lövborg	Replacing the manuscript in its paper and laying the packet on the table. I brought it, thinking I might read you a little of it this evening.
Tesman	That was very good of you, Eilert. But this evening—? Looking back at Brack. I don’t see how we can manage it—
Lövborg	Well then, some other time. There is no hurry.
Brack	I must tell you, Mr. Lövborg—there is a little gathering at my house this evening—mainly in honour of Tesman, you know—
Lövborg	Looking for his hat. Oh—then I won’t detain you—
Brack	No, but listen—will you not do me the favour of joining us?
Lövborg	Curtly and decidedly. No, I can’t—thank you very much.
Brack	Oh, nonsense—do! We shall be quite a select little circle. And I assure you we shall have a “lively time,” as Mrs. Hed—as Mrs. Tesman says.
Lövborg	I have no doubt of it. But nevertheless—
Brack	And then you might bring your manuscript with you, and read it to Tesman at my house. I could give you a room to yourselves.
Tesman	Yes, think of that, Eilert—why shouldn’t you? Eh?
Hedda	Interposing. But, Tesman, if Mr. Lövborg would really rather not! I am sure Mr. Lövborg is much more inclined to remain here and have supper with me.
Lövborg	Looking at her. With you, Mrs. Tesman?
Hedda	And with Mrs. Elvsted.
Lövborg	Ah—Lightly. I saw her for a moment this morning.
Hedda	Did you? Well, she is coming this evening. So you see you are almost bound to remain, Mr. Lövborg, or she will have no one to see her home.
Lövborg	That’s true. Many thanks, Mrs. Tesman—in that case I will remain.
Hedda	Then I have one or two orders to give the servant—
	She goes to the hall door and rings. Berta* enters. Hedda talks to her in a whisper, and points towards the inner room. Berta nods and goes out again.*
Tesman	At the same time, to Lövborg. Tell me, Eilert—is it this new subject—the future—that you are going to lecture about?
Lövborg	Yes.
Tesman	They told me at the bookseller’s that you are going to deliver a course of lectures this autumn.
Lövborg	That is my intention. I hope you won’t take it ill, Tesman.
Tesman	Oh no, not in the least! But—?
Lövborg	I can quite understand that it must be very disagreeable to you.
Tesman	Cast down. Oh, I can’t expect you, out of consideration for me, to—
Lövborg	But I shall wait till you have received your appointment.
Tesman	Will you wait? Yes but—yes but—are you not going to compete with me? Eh?
Lövborg	No; it is only the moral victory I care for.
Tesman	Why, bless me—then Aunt Julia was right after all! Oh yes—I knew it! Hedda! Just fancy—Eilert Lövborg is not going to stand in our way!
Hedda	Curtly. Our way? Pray leave me out of the question.
	She goes up towards the inner room, where Berta* is placing a tray with decanters and glasses on the table. Hedda nods approval, and comes forward again. Berta goes out.*
Tesman	At the same time. And you, Judge Brack—what do you say to this? Eh?
Brack	Well, I say that a moral victory—h’m—may be all very fine—
Tesman	Yes, certainly. But all the same—
Hedda	Looking at Tesman* with a cold smile.* You stand there looking as if you were thunderstruck—
Tesman	Yes—so I am—I almost think—
Brack	Don’t you see, Mrs. Tesman, a thunderstorm has just passed over?
Hedda	Pointing towards the room. Will you not take a glass of cold punch, gentlemen?
Brack	Looking at his watch. A stirrup cup? Yes, it wouldn’t come amiss.
Tesman	A capital idea, Hedda! Just the thing! Now that the weight has been taken off my mind—
Hedda	Will you not join them, Mr. Lövborg?
Lövborg	With a gesture of refusal. No, thank you. Nothing for me.
Brack	Why bless me—cold punch is surely not poison.
Lövborg	Perhaps not for everyone.
Hedda	I will keep Mr. Lövborg company in the meantime.
Tesman	Yes, yes, Hedda dear, do.
	He and Brack go into the inner room, seat themselves, drink punch, smoke cigarettes, and carry on a lively conversation during what follows. Eilert Lövborg remains standing beside the stove. Hedda goes to the writing table.
Hedda	Raising he voice a little. Do you care to look at some photographs, Mr. Lövborg? You know Tesman and I made a tour in the Tyrol on our way home?
	She takes up an album, and places it on the table beside the sofa, in the further corner of which she seats herself. Eilert Lövborg approaches, stops, and looks at her. Then he takes a chair and seats himself to her left.
Hedda	Opening the album. Do you see this range of mountains, Mr. Lövborg? It’s the Ortler group. Tesman has written the name underneath. Here it is: “The Ortler group near Meran.”
Lövborg	Who has never taken his eyes off her, says softly and slowly: Hedda—Gabler!
Hedda	Glancing hastily at him. Ah! Hush!
Lövborg	Repeats softly. Hedda Gabler!
Hedda	Looking at the album. That was my name in the old days—when we two knew each other.
Lövborg	And I must teach myself never to say Hedda Gabler again—never, as long as I live.
Hedda	Still turning over the pages. Yes, you must. And I think you ought to practise in time. The sooner the better, I should say.
Lövborg	In a tone of indignation. Hedda Gabler married? And married to—George Tesman!
Hedda	Yes—so the world goes.
Lövborg	Oh, Hedda, Hedda—how could you16 throw yourself away!
Hedda	Looks sharply at him. What? I can’t allow this!
Lövborg	What do you mean?
	Tesman comes into the room and goes towards the sofa.
Hedda	Hears him coming and says in an indifferent tone. And this is a view from the Val d’Ampezzo, Mr. Lövborg. Just look at these peaks! Looks affectionately up at Tesman. What’s the name of these curious peaks, dear?
Tesman	Let me see. Oh, those are the Dolomites.
Hedda	Yes, that’s it!—Those are the Dolomites, Mr. Lövborg.
Tesman	Hedda, dear—I only wanted to ask whether I shouldn’t bring you a little punch after all? For yourself at any rate—eh?
Hedda	Yes, do, please; and perhaps a few biscuits.
Tesman	No cigarettes?
Hedda	No.
Tesman	Very well.
	He goes into the inner room and out to the right. Brack* sits in the inner room, and keeps an eye from time to time on Hedda and Lövborg.*
Lövborg	Softly, as before. Answer me, Hedda—how could you go and do this?
Hedda	Apparently absorbed in the album. If you continue to say du to me I won’t talk to you.
Lövborg	May I not say du even when we are alone?
Hedda	No. You may think it; but you mustn’t say it.
Lövborg	Ah, I understand. It is an offence against George Tesman, whom you17—love.
Hedda	Glances at him and smiles. Love? What an idea!
Lövborg	You don’t love him then!
Hedda	But I won’t hear of any sort of unfaithfulness! Remember that.
Lövborg	Hedda—answer me one thing—
Hedda	Hush! Tesman enters with a small tray from the inner room.
Tesman	Here you are! Isn’t this tempting? He puts the tray on the table.
Hedda	Why do you bring it yourself?
Tesman	Filling the glasses. Because I think it’s such fun to wait upon you, Hedda.
Hedda	But you have poured out two glasses. Mr. Lövborg said he wouldn’t have any—
Tesman	No, but Mrs. Elvsted will soon be here, won’t she?
Hedda	Yes, by the by—Mrs. Elvsted—
Tesman	Had you forgotten her? Eh?
Hedda	We were so absorbed in these photographs. Shows him a picture. Do you remember this little village?
Tesman	Oh, it’s that one just below the Brenner Pass. It was there we passed the night—
Hedda	—and met that lively party of tourists.
Tesman	Yes, that was the place. Fancy—if we could only have had you with us, Eilert! Eh?
	He returns to the inner room and sits beside Brack.
Lövborg	Answer me one thing, Hedda—
Hedda	Well?
Lövborg	Was there no love in your friendship for me either? Not a spark—not a tinge of love in it?
Hedda	I wonder if there was? To me it seems as though we were two good comrades—two thoroughly intimate friends. Smilingly. You especially were frankness itself.
Lövborg	It was you that made me so.
Hedda	As I look back upon it all, I think there was really something beautiful, something fascinating—something daring—in—in that secret intimacy—that comradeship which no living creature so much as dreamed of.
Lövborg	Yes, yes, Hedda! Was there not?—When I used to come to your father’s in the afternoon—and the General sat over at the window reading his papers—with his back towards us—
Hedda	And we two on the corner sofa—
Lövborg	Always with the same illustrated paper before us—
Hedda	For want of an album, yes.
Lövborg	Yes, Hedda, and when I made my confessions to you—told you about myself, things that at that time no one else knew! There I would sit and tell you of my escapades—my days and nights of devilment. Oh, Hedda—what was the power in you that forced me to confess these things?
Hedda	Do you think it was any power in me?
Lövborg	How else can I explain it? And all those—those roundabout questions you used to put to me—
Hedda	Which you understood so particularly well—
Lövborg	How could you sit and question me like that? Question me quite frankly—
Hedda	In roundabout terms, please observe.
Lövborg	Yes, but frankly nevertheless. Cross question me about—all that sort of thing?
Hedda	And how could you answer, Mr. Lövborg?
Lövborg	Yes, that is just what I can’t understand—in looking back upon it. But tell me now, Hedda—was there not love at the bottom of our friendship? On your side, did you not feel as though you might purge my stains away—if I made you my confessor? Was it not so?
Hedda	No, not quite.
Lövborg	What was you motive, then?
Hedda	Do think it quite incomprehensible that a young girl—when it can be done—without anyone knowing—
Lövborg	Well?
Hedda	—should be glad to have a peep, now and then, into a world which—?
Lövborg	Which—?
Hedda	—which she is forbidden to know anything about?
Lövborg	So that was it?
Hedda	Partly. Partly—I almost think.
Lövborg	Comradeship in the thirst for life. But why should not that, at any rate, have continued?
Hedda	The fault was yours.
Lövborg	It was you that broke with me.
Hedda	Yes, when our friendship threatened to develop into something more serious. Shame upon you, Eilert Lövborg! How could you think of wronging your—your frank comrade.
Lövborg	Clenches his hands. Oh, why did you not carry out your threat? Why did you not shoot me down?
Hedda	Because I have such a dread of scandal.
Lövborg	Yes, Hedda, you are a coward at heart.
Hedda	A terrible coward. Changing her tone. But it was a lucky thing for you. And now you have found ample consolation at the Elvsteds’.
Lövborg	I know what Thea has confided to you.
Hedda	And perhaps you have confided to her something about us?
Lövborg	Not a word. She is too stupid to understand anything of that sort.
Hedda	Stupid?
Lövborg	She is stupid about matters of that sort.
Hedda	And I am cowardly. Bends over towards him, without looking him in the face, and says more softly: But now I will confide something to you.
Lövborg	Eagerly. Well?
Hedda	The fact that I dared not shoot you down—
Lövborg	Yes!
Hedda	—that was not my arrant cowardice—that evening.
Lövborg	Looks at her a moment, understands, and whispers passionately. Oh, Hedda! Hedda Gabler! Now I begin to see a hidden reason beneath our comradeship! You18 and I—! After all, then, it was your craving for life—
Hedda	Softly, with a sharp glance. Take care! Believe nothing of the sort!
	Twilight has begun to fall. The hall door is opened from without by Berta.
Hedda	Closes the album with a bang and calls smilingly: Ah, at last! My darling Thea—come along!
	Mrs. Elvsted enters from the hall. She is in evening dress. The door is closed behind her.
Hedda	On the sofa, stretches out her arms towards her. My sweet Thea—you can’t think how I have been longing for you!
	Mrs. Elvsted, in passing, exchanges slight salutations with the gentlemen in the inner room, then goes up to the table and gives Hedda her hand. Eilert Lövborg has risen. He and Mrs. Elvsted greet each other with a silent nod.
Mrs. Elvsted	Ought I to go in and talk to your husband for a moment?
Hedda	Oh, not at all. Leave those two alone. They will soon be going.
Mrs. Elvsted	Are they going out?
Hedda	Yes, to a supper party.
Mrs. Elvsted	Quickly, to Lövborg. Not you?
Lövborg	No.
Hedda	Mr. Lövborg remains with us.
Mrs. Elvsted	Takes a chair and is about to seat herself at his side. Oh, how nice it is here!
Hedda	No, thank you, my little Thea! Not there! You’ll be good enough to come over here to me. I will sit between you.
Mrs. Elvsted	Yes, just as you please.
	She goes round the table and seats herself on the sofa on Hedda’s* right. Lövborg reseats himself on his chair.*
Lövborg	After a short pause, to Hedda. Is not she lovely to look at?
Hedda	Lightly stroking her hair. Only to look at!
Lövborg	Yes. For we two—she and I—we are two real comrades. We have absolute faith in each other; so we can sit and talk with perfect frankness—
Hedda	Not roundabout, Mr. Lövborg?
Lövborg	Well—
Mrs. Elvsted	Softly clinging close to Hedda. Oh, how happy I am, Hedda! For only think, he says I have inspired him too.
Hedda	Looks at her with a smile. Ah! Does he say that, dear?
Lövborg	And then she is so brave, Mrs. Tesman!
Mrs. Elvsted	Good heavens—am I brave?
Lövborg	Exceedingly—where your comrade is concerned.
Hedda	Ah, yes—courage! If one only had that!
Lövborg	What then? What do you mean?
Hedda	Then life would perhaps be liveable, after all. With a sudden change of tone. But now, my dearest Thea, you really must have a glass of cold punch.
Mrs. Elvsted	No, thanks—I never take anything of that kind.
Hedda	Well then, you, Mr. Lövborg.
Lövborg	Nor I, thank you.
Mrs. Elvsted	No, he doesn’t either.
Hedda	Looks fixedly at him. But if I say you shall?
Lövborg	It would be of no use.
Hedda	Laughing. Then I, poor creature, have no sort of power over you?
Lövborg	Not in that respect.
Hedda	But seriously, I think you ought to—for your own sake.
Mrs. Elvsted	Why, Hedda—!
Lövborg	How so?
Hedda	Or rather on account of other people.
Lövborg	Indeed?
Hedda	Otherwise people might be apt to suspect that—in your heart of hearts—you did not feel quite secure—quite confident in yourself.
Mrs. Elvsted	Softly. Oh please, Hedda—!
Lövborg	People may suspect what they like—for the present.
Mrs. Elvsted	Joyfully. Yes, let them!
Hedda	I saw it plainly in Judge Brack’s face a moment ago.
Lövborg	What did you see?
Hedda	His contemptuous smile, when you dared not go with them into the inner room.
Lövborg	Dared not? Of course I preferred to stop here and talk to you.
Mrs. Elvsted	What could be more natural, Hedda?
Hedda	But the Judge could not guess that. And I say, too, the way he smiled and glanced at Tesman when you dared not accept his invitation to this wretched little supper party of his.
Lövborg	Dared not! Do you say I dared not?
Hedda	I don’t say so. But that was how Judge Brack understood it.
Lövborg	Well, let him.
Hedda	Then you are not going with them?
Lövborg	I will stay here with you and Thea.
Mrs. Elvsted	Yes, Hedda—how can you doubt that?
Hedda	Smiles and nods approvingly to Lövborg. Firm as a rock! Faithful to your principles, now and forever! Ah, that is how a man should be! Turns to Mrs. Elvsted* and caresses her.* Well now, what did I tell you, when you came to us this morning in such a state of distraction—
Lövborg	Surprised. Distraction!
Mrs. Elvsted	Terrified. Hedda—oh Hedda—!
Hedda	You can see for yourself! You haven’t the slightest reason to be in such mortal terror—Interrupting herself. There! Now we can all three enjoy ourselves!
Lövborg	Who has given a start. Ah—what is all this, Mrs. Tesman?
Mrs. Elvsted	Oh my God, Hedda! What are you saying? What are you doing?
Hedda	Don’t get excited! That horrid Judge Brack is sitting watching you.
Lövborg	So she was in mortal terror! On my account!
Mrs. Elvsted	Softly and piteously. Oh, Hedda—now you have ruined everything!
Lövborg	Looks fixedly at her for a moment. His face is distorted. So that was my comrade’s frank confidence in me?
Mrs. Elvsted	Imploringly. Oh, my dearest friend—only let me tell you—
Lövborg	Takes one of the glasses of punch, raises it to his lips, and says in a low, husky voice. Your health, Thea!
	He empties the glass, puts it down, and takes the second.
Mrs. Elvsted	Softly. Oh, Hedda, Hedda—how could you do this?
Hedda	I do it? I? Are you crazy?
Lövborg	Here’s to your health too, Mrs. Tesman. Thanks for the truth. Hurrah for the truth!
	He empties the glass and is about to refill it.
Hedda	Lays her hand on his arm. Come, come—no more for the present. Remember you are going out to supper.
Mrs. Elvsted	No, no, no!
Hedda	Hush! They are sitting watching you.
Lövborg	Putting down the glass. Now, Thea—tell me the truth—
Mrs. Elvsted	Yes.
Lövborg	Did your husband know that you had come after me?
Mrs. Elvsted	Wringing her hands. Oh, Hedda—do you hear what his is asking?
Lövborg	Was it arranged between you and him that you were to come to town and look after me? Perhaps it was the Sheriff himself that urged you to come? Aha, my dear—no doubt he wanted my help in his office! Or was it at the card table that he missed me?
Mrs. Elvsted	Softly, in agony. Oh, Lövborg, Lövborg—!
Lövborg	Seizes a glass and is on the point of filling it. Here’s a glass for the old Sheriff too!
Hedda	Preventing him. No more just now. Remember, you have to read your manuscript to Tesman.
Lövborg	Calmly, putting down the glass. It was stupid of me all this. Thea—to take it in this way, I mean. Don’t be angry with me, my dear, dear comrade. You shall see—both you and the others—that if I was fallen once—now I have risen again! Thanks to you, Thea.
Mrs. Elvsted	Radiant with joy. Oh, heaven be praised—!
	Brack has in the meantime looked at his watch. He and Tesman rise and come into the drawing room.
Brack	Takes his hat and overcoat. Well, Mrs. Tesman, our time has come.
Hedda	I suppose it has.
Lövborg	Rising. Mine too, Judge Brack.
Mrs. Elvsted	Softly and imploringly. Oh, Lövborg, don’t do it!
Hedda	Pinching her arm. They can hear you!
Mrs. Elvsted	With a suppressed shriek. Ow!
Lövborg	To Brack. You were good enough to invite me.
Judge Brack	Well, are you coming after all?
Lövborg	Yes, many thanks.
Brack	I’m delighted—
Lövborg	To Tesman, putting the parcel of MS. in his pocket. I should like to show you one or two things before I send it to the printers.
Tesman	Fancy—that will be delightful. But, Hedda dear, how is Mrs. Elvsted to get home? Eh?
Hedda	Oh, that can be managed somehow.
Lövborg	Looking towards the ladies. Mrs. Elvsted? Of course, I’ll come again and fetch her. Approaching. At ten or thereabouts, Mrs. Tesman? Will that do?
Hedda	Certainly. That will do capitally.
Tesman	Well, then, that’s all right. But you must not expect me so early, Hedda.
Hedda	Oh, you may stop as long—as long as ever you please.
Mrs. Elvsted	Trying to conceal her anxiety. Well then, Mr. Lövborg—I shall remain here until you come.
Lövborg	With his hat in his hand. Pray do, Mrs. Elvsted.
Brack	And now off goes the excursion train, gentlemen! I hope we shall have a lively time, as a certain fair lady puts it.
Hedda	Ah, if only the fair lady could be present unseen—!
Brack	Why unseen?
Hedda	In order to hear a little of your liveliness at first hand, Judge Brack.
Brack	Laughing. I should not advise the fair lady to try it.
Tesman	Also laughing. Come, you’re a nice one Hedda! Fancy that!
Brack	Well, goodbye, goodbye, ladies.
Lövborg	Bowing. About ten o’clock, then,
	Brack, Lövborg, and Tesman go out by the hall door. At the same time, Berta enters from the inner room with a lighted lamp, which she places on the drawing room table; she goes out by the way she came.
Mrs. Elvsted	Who has risen and is wandering restlessly about the room. Hedda—Hedda—what will come of all this?
Hedda	At ten o’clock—he will be here. I can see him already—with vine leaves in his hair—flushed and fearless—
Mrs. Elvsted	Oh, I hope he may.
Hedda	And then, you see—then he will have regained control over himself. Then he will be a free man for all his days.
Mrs. Elvsted	Oh God!—if he would only come as you see him now!
Hedda	He will come as I see him—so, and not otherwise! Rises and approaches Thea. You may doubt him as long as you please; I believe in him. And now we will try—
Mrs. Elvsted	You have some hidden motive in this, Hedda!
Hedda	Yes, I have. I want for once in my life to have power to mould a human destiny.
Mrs. Elvsted	Have you not the power?
Hedda	I have not—and have never had it.
Mrs. Elvsted	Not your husband’s?
Hedda	Do you think that is worth the trouble? Oh, if you could only understand how poor I am. And fate has made you so rich! Clasps her passionately in her arms. I think I must burn your hair off after all.
Mrs. Elvsted	Let me go! Let me go! I am afraid of you, Hedda!
Berta	In the middle doorway. Tea is laid in the dining room, ma’am.
Hedda	Very well. We are coming
Mrs. Elvsted	No, no, no! I would rather go home alone! At once!
Hedda	Nonsense! First you shall have a cup of tea, you little stupid. And then—at ten o’clock—Eilert Lövborg will be here—with vine leaves in his hair.
	She drags Mrs. Elvsted* almost by force to the middle doorway.*

Act III

Ibsen's Plays

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