Evil exists both in the souls of humans and in the souls of fictional characters such as Hedda Gabler from Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler and Mr. Roger Chillingworth of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Both do inconceivable things, some things more subtle than others, to people that they claim to care about, or they appear to care about. Friends from the past and newly formed friendships mean nothing to them and they care about no one with the exception of themselves.
Hedda Gabler is a woman in her late 20’s, which in 1890 is considered rather old to be newly married; she was recently married to George Tesman, a researcher and a man hopeful for a professorship. The couple just returned from a six month wedding trip, they returned to a new home acquired for them by Tesman’s Aunt Julia and Hedda’s friend Judge Brack. Before the couple had been engaged, Hedda had mentioned to Tesman how much she would love to live in a particular villa. “Often and often, before we were engaged, she said that she would never care anywhere but in Secretary Falk’s villa” (Ibsen 6). Later, Judge Brack comes to the villa to visit and in the conversation between the Judge and Hedda, he inquires as to how she is enjoying her new home. Hedda replied that her wanting to live in the home was a thoughtless remark and that she really did not care, “…I happened to say, in pure thoughtlessness, that I should like to live in this villa” (Ibsen 30).
Tesman’s Aunt Julia had been by to visit earlier that same morning before Hedda had entered the drawing-room. Aunt Julia was showing Tesman her new bonnet, explaining that she bought it because in the event that she and Hedda would go out in public together, she did not want Hedda to be embarrassed by her. “I bought it on Hedda’s account…so that Hedda needn’t be ashamed of me if we happened to go out together” (Ibsen 4.) After entering, Hedda notices the bonnet that Aunt Julia has placed on the sofa and proceeds to insult it and, in...