This section contains 1,344 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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Hedda Gabler and the Lower Depths - Use of Surprise Suicide Ending
Summary: Compares and Contrasts Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and Maxim Gorki's The Lower Depths. Uses the two characters who commit suicide at the end, and describes the effectiveness of the surprise ending.
For Maxim Gorki and Henrik Ibsen, the "the surprise ending" is a device to highlight the extreme desperation and hopelessness man is often faced. In both cases, the plays end with an act of suicide - The Actor in The Lower Depths, and Hedda in Hedda Gabler. The alcoholic Actor dreamt of a far off hospital that helped drunkards by curing them of their disease. He struggles through out the play trying to find this path to redemption. Hedda tries to control a world that she is trapped in. This control would result in her freedom to exist in true self-expression. Both characters live in denial. They subconsciously understand that these aspirations will forever be fantasies due to their society; they survive restlessly in these worlds of illusion. However, by the end of each play, the illusion crumbles, and both are forced to face the dire truth of...
This section contains 1,344 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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