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Hedda Gabler
Tesman is Hedda’s husband and the holder of a University Fellowship in cultural history: he specializes in medieval domestic crafts. He is a slightly plump, bearded, and bespectacled man of 33. Tesman is a hard worker and an amiable fellow, and he is considered an outstanding member of his society, one destined to attain the highest social distinction. For all that, however, he is also conventional, boring, mediocre, and sometimes even ridiculous. He talks constantly about the mundane details of his studies, he is sappily sentimental, and he is an anxious climber of the career ladder. He does not create anything on his own, but instead merely studies the creations of others, as when at the end of the play he resolves to reconstruct Lövborg’s partially destroyed manuscript. Tesman might be read in part as Ibsen’s sketch of the conventional bourgeois man in modern society.
Jörgen Tesman Quotes in Hedda Gabler
The Hedda Gabler quotes below are all either spoken by Jörgen Tesman or refer to Jörgen Tesman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
Tesman: Oh, Auntie…you’ll never stop sacrificing yourself for me!
Miss Tesman: Isn’t it the only joy I have in the world, to help you along your road, my darling boy?
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Tesman: What are you looking at, Hedda?
Hedda: I’m just looking at the leaves on the trees. They’re so yellowed. And so withered.
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Hedda: Oh, well…I’ve got one thing at least that I can pass the time with.
Tesman: Oh, thank the good Lord for that! And what might that be, Hedda? Eh?
Hedda: My pistols… Jörgen.
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Act 4
Quotes
Hedda: Oh, it’ll kill me…it’ll kill me, all this!
Tesman: All what, Hedda? Eh?
Hedda: All this…this farce…Jörgen.
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Jörgen Tesman Quotes in Hedda Gabler
The Hedda Gabler quotes below are all either spoken by Jörgen Tesman or refer to Jörgen Tesman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Tesman: Oh, Auntie…you’ll never stop sacrificing yourself for me!
Miss Tesman: Isn’t it the only joy I have in the world, to help you along your road, my darling boy?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Tesman: What are you looking at, Hedda?
Hedda: I’m just looking at the leaves on the trees. They’re so yellowed. And so withered.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Hedda: Oh, well…I’ve got one thing at least that I can pass the time with.
Tesman: Oh, thank the good Lord for that! And what might that be, Hedda? Eh?
Hedda: My pistols… Jörgen.
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Act 4
Quotes
Hedda: Oh, it’ll kill me…it’ll kill me, all this!
Tesman: All what, Hedda? Eh?
Hedda: All this…this farce…Jörgen.
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