6 Biggest Differences Between The New Movie & The Classic Play

The following contains brief descriptions and discussion of suicide, as depicted in the film Hedda.

The following contains spoilers for HeddaHedda recaptures the spirit of Hedda Gabler, but makes some very impactful changes to the source material. Written by the legendary playwright Henrik Ibsen and first staged in 1891, Hedda Gabler has been regarded as a masterpiece of theatre for over a century. It also serves as the direct inspiration for Hedda, Nia DaCosta’s very modern take on the material.

While much of the spirit of the original is still alive in the film, Hedda‘s ending makes some pretty big shifts from the other plays. Other elements have been changed in the adaptation, including a gender-swap that adds a lot of new layers to the material. Here are the biggest differences between Hedda and Hedda Gabler.

Eilert Becomes Eileen In Hedda

The biggest modern twist in Hedda is the reimagining of Eilert as Eileen, a gender-swap that adds a lot of layers to Hedda’s lingering feelings for the writer. In Hedda Gabler, Eilert is a male writer who was once in love with Hedda, but has moved on with their life and begun a relationship with Thea.

In Hedda, Eilert has been changed into a woman named Eileen. This adds new dimensions to the character, as well as her relationship with Hedda and Thea. Eileen openly admits that she’s faced extra scrutiny in the academic world as a result of her gender, giving her more motivation to rage against the system than Eilert.

Eileen’s former romance with Hedda and her relationship with Thea are now hidden due to the prejudices of the time, adding another reason why the societal-minded Hedda ended their relationship. Eilert becoming Eileen plays into the themes of the story and Hedda’s struggles with her personal freedom, reflected in the challenges Eileen faces as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Hedda Compresses All Of Hedda Gabler Into One Night

One of the biggest structural changes of Hedda is the way the film takes the plot of the play and compresses it into a single evening. In Hedda Gabler, there are various events happening throughout the story that take up much more time than in the film, including a fateful party that is crucial to both versions of the story.

Hedda brings all the characters together for a single night of chaotic partying instead of sending George and Eilert out to an event. This has the benefit of keeping the potentially sprawling plot self-contained to a single location, while also ratcheting up the drama between the characters by keeping them all in close proximity to one another.

It also heightens the tension of the relationship conflicts, as the party escalates quickly instead of the play’s approach, where multiple characters take time away from one another and suffer unexpected fates off-stage. This also benefits the film’s decision to move the action from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century with a Gilded Age aesthetic.

Hedda Cuts Aunt Julle

One of the supporting characters in Hedda Garbler is Aunt Julle. A wealthy benefactor for her beloved nephew and his new wife, Julle is one of the many victims of Hedda’s manipulations. Hedda fakes a sense of love for her new in-law, using it as an opportunity to maintain the level of luxury to which she’s always been accustomed.

In a play where almost everyone is at least morally compromised, Aunt Julle is one of the very few truly good people — which makes it all the sadder when she loses her beloved sister and much of her fortune. Aunt Julle is notably cut from the film, however, with no clear stand-in for the character appearing in the film’s cast.

This has the benefit of keeping the focus on George entirely on his relationship with Hedda and removing any support system he has. It also adds further motivation to Hedda’s desire for George to get a prestigious professor position, as there is no wealthy family member to help pay for their expenses.

Hedda Stole The Manuscript In The Film But Not The Play

One of the key moments in both Hedda Garbler and Hedda is the fate of the manuscript written by Eilert/Eileen and Thea. Their joint work, the manuscript, is supposedly the key to the latter getting the professor position. It also comes to symbolize the relationship between Thea and Eileen/Eilert, giving Hedda extra reason to want to destroy it.

In both versions of the story, the manuscript comes into Hedda’s possession, and she burns it. However, the exact circumstances of how she got it are different. In the play, George found the play after Eilert misplaced it while at the party the two of them went to. This directly connects George to the loss of the manuscript, albeit accidentally.

In the film, Hedda specifically steals the manuscript herself and hides it for a time, giving her more malice and agency in her decision to target Eileen. While George is aware of the manuscript being burned in the film after finding Hedda destroying it, it adds a layer of nobility to his decision to help Thea reconstruct the manuscript afterward.

Eileen’s Fate Is More Ambiguous Than Eilert’s

In Hedda and Hedda Garbler, Hedda’s former lover is driven to the brink of suicide by their circumstances. Hedda even gives both versions of the character one of her distinct antique guns to do the deed with, which is important in the final stretch of the story. Both Eileen and Eilert seriously contemplate ending their life, but their fates are different.

In Hedda Garbler, Eilert returns to the brothel where he believes he lost his manuscript. While there, he accidentally fires the gun at himself and is mortally wounded, eventually bleeding out in inglorious fashion. Something somewhat similar occurs in Hedda when a despondent Eileen bumps into one of her friends and the gun goes off, striking her in the stomach.

However, the final moments of Hedda suggest that Eileen has awoken, implying she may even survive. The film’s ending is ambiguous enough to leave the question of Eileen’s fate to the viewer, suggesting there’s a possible path where Eileen survives her injuries and attempts to pick up the pieces of her life that were thrown into turmoil by Hedda’s manipulations.

Hedda’s New Ending Is Far More Ambiguous

Hedda‘s ending is very similar to the original play, but the final moments take a divergence and add a level of ambiguity to the story. In both Hedda Garbler and Hedda, the titular woman is shocked to discover that Judge Brack knows that the gun used by Eileen and Eilert belonged to her.

In the play, Brack even knows that Hedda was responsible for the destruction of the manuscript, giving him all the blackmail evidence he needs to manipulate her into a relationship. Both versions of Brack reveal their intentions to Hedda, who retreats to a solitary space and then sets about committing suicide.

In Hedda Garbler, Hedda uses a gun on herself and succesfully takes her own life, ending the play with the remaining characters discovering her body. In the film, Hedda rushes down to the nearby lake and stuffs her pockets with rocks, reflecting an earlier moment in the film as she steps into the water.

However, while she is down to eye-level, the announcements that Eileen has survived and the calls for Hedda seem to give her pause. It’s left ambiguous whether or not Hedda stepped further into the water or came back to land, giving Hedda a far more ambiguous final note than the play that inspired it.