Review

Abstract

Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler: Philosophical Perspectives is a collection of new critical essays written by scholars working in drama and theater studies, European philosophy, literature and Scandinavian studies. Editor Kristin Gjesdal (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Temple University and Professor II at the University of Oslo) describes the volume as an “effort to overcome” the “intellectual provincialism” that has separated “philosophy and the other human sciences” (7). After reading a few chapters, I began to wonder: What makes this book philosophical? And what makes it particularly suited to surmounting disciplinary insularity? A literary scholar myself, I do not always recognize a manifest difference between the readings and perspectives collected here and other examples of criticism on Hedda Gabler written from literary or performance studies perspectives. I do not claim expertise or the skill to identify what is, and what is not, philosophical—quite the opposite. Thus, I found myself somewhat set adrift and unconvinced concerning claims about the “long overdue” nature of “such a volume” (Gjesdal 7). Nonetheless, I find the question itself interesting, and it continued to pester me as I read. Thus, I will use it to motivate and organize this review, zooming in on two essays that can exemplify articulation of a strong connection between Hedda Gabler and specific philosophical concepts or texts, and identifying a few answers— whether satisfying or no. But before I turn my attention to these individual essays, I will introduce Gjesdal’s broader claims for the philosophical approach, presented in her Editor’s Introduction. She chooses