Hedda Gabler more important than the rational one. Ibsen was interested in the then-embryonic science of mental illness and had a poor understanding by present-day standards. His "Ghosts" is another example of this. Examples of the troubled 19th-century female might include oppressed, but "normal", wilful characters; women in abusive or loveless relationships; and those with some type of organic brain disease. Ibsen is content to leave such explanations unsettled. Bernard Paris interprets Gabler's actions as stemming from her "need for freedom [which is] as compensatory as her craving for power... her desire to shape a man's destiny." The play was performed in
Hedda Gabler an Academy Award as leading actress for her role in the British film adaptation "Hedda" (1975) directed by Trevor Nunn. A version was produced for Australian television in 1961. An American film version released in 2004 relocated the story to a community of young academics in Washington state. An adaptation (by Brian Friel) of the 2012 Old Vic production was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4 on 9 March 2013. In 2014, Matthew John also adapted Hedda Gabler starring Rita Ramnani, David R. Butler, and Samantha E. Hunt. An operatic adaptation of the play has been