Both of these characters want freedom from oppression, and freedom to
do what they desire, when they desire it. This does not seem to be too
much to ask, but in the 19th century when they lived, their lives were not
their own, in effect, they lived at the whim of others, and they both hated
living that way. Douglass wrote, "Colonel Lloyd could not brook any
contradiction from a slave. When he spoke, a slave must stand, listen, and
tremble; and such was literally the case" (Douglass, 1995, p. 10). His
life is bound to another, and so is Hedda's, for she is bound to her
husband, like all married women of Victorian times. Hedda is a
disagreeable character, but she is nevertheless a strong and opinionated
woman, whether the reader likes her or not. She is held captive by society
and in a marriage she abhors. Her friend, Mrs. Elvsted says, "They may say
what they like, in heaven's name. I have done nothing but what I had to
do" (Ibsen, 1905, p. 272), but Hedda does not have the courage to do the
same thing - pack up and leave her husband, despite what a shocked society
would say. Both of these characters have much in common, even though it
Both Douglass and Hedda lead miserable lives during their struggle to
be free, but both are determined to gain their freedom. Douglass says,
"This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave.
It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a
sense of my own manhood" (Douglass, 1995, pp. 43). Hedda also longs for
her own freedom. She muses, "Oh, what a sense of freedom it gives one,
this act of Eilert LÖvborg's. BRACK. Freedom, Miss Hedda' Well, of
course it's a release for him------. I mean for me. It gives me a sense
of freedom to know that a deed of deliberate courage is still possible in
this world,-- a deed of immutable beauty" (Ibsen, 1905, p. 356). Of
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