Jörgen Tesman Character Analysis in 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:

).

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: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 174

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.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 179

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.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 197

Explanation and Analysis:

Hedda: Oh, it’ll kill me…it’ll kill me, all this!

Tesman: All what, Hedda? Eh?

Hedda: All this…this farce…Jörgen.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 251

Explanation and Analysis:

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:

).

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: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 174

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.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 179

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.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 197

Explanation and Analysis:

Hedda: Oh, it’ll kill me…it’ll kill me, all this!

Tesman: All what, Hedda? Eh?

Hedda: All this…this farce…Jörgen.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 251

Explanation and Analysis:

Everything you needfor every book you read.

Everything you need for every book you read.

Everything you need for every book you read.

Jörgen Tesman Character Analysis

Jörgen Tesman Quotes in Hedda Gabler

Jörgen Tesman Quotes in Hedda Gabler

Everything you need
for every book you read.