How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used Edmund Gosse and William Archer's translation.
Quote #4
HEDDA
Oh, it was a little episode with Miss Tesman this morning. She had laid down her bonnet on the chair there—[Looks at him and smiles.]—and I pretended to think it was the servant's. (2.127)
Did you notice that the Judge is only the guy Hedda confesses the truth to? And yet, she still manages to keep him under her thumb, at least in the first few acts…
Quote #5
LØVBORG Yes, Hedda, and when I made my confessions to you—told you about myself, things that at that time no one else knew! There I would sit and tell you of my escapades—my days and nights of devilment. Oh, Hedda—what was the power in you that forced me to confess these things? (2.337)
Løvborg recognizes what indeed proves to be Hedda’s greatest asset: her ability to make others reveal their secrets. She does the same with Thea and even with Brack, who admits some rather scandalous desires to Hedda in the second act.