Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Victorian Society

You thought we were going to say "Judge Brack," didn’t you? The fact is, nearly every character antagonizes Hedda to some degree. Thea has transformed Hedda's favorite rebel into a conventional bore; Aunt Julie won’t stop talking about her pregnancy; George is, well, himself; and Brack tries to blackmail her into having an affair with him. But none of this would be a problem if it weren’t for those pesky Victorian values boxing Hedda in at every turn. Without the standards of the day, Hedda could have had sex with Eilert instead of breaking up with him way back when, told the Judge to piss off, and gotten a divorce, birth control, and a career.