Hedda Gabler , arguably Ibsen’s greatest work, is a tumultuous and sweeping play about a woman contending with her own dissatisfaction at the turn of the nineteenth century. Considered by many critics a heroine as complex and tragic so as to rival Hamlet, Hedda finds her life in disarray after the sudden appearance of her husband’s rival—her former lover, Eilert—and, consumed by jealousy toward Eilert’s new paramour, triggers the chain of events that will lead to the play’s ultimate, shocking conclusion. The Wild Duck , The Lady from the Sea , and Rosmersholm , though lesser known, are no less provocative or brimming with psychological complexity; together, these four plays serve as timeless explorations of identity, society, power, and freedom.
