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 which opened on 30 March 1898 at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York City. A 1902 production starring Minnie Maddern Fiske was a major sensation on Broadway, and following its initial limited run was revived with the same actress the next year. In February 1899 it was produced as part of The Moscow Art Theatre’s first season with Maria F. Andreeva as Hedda. Many prominent actresses have played the role of Hedda: Vera Komissarzhevskaya, Eleonora Duse, Alla Nazimova, Asta Nielsen, Johanne Louise Schmidt, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Eva Le Gallienne, Elizabeth Robins, Anne Meacham, Ingrid Bergman, Fenella Fielding, Jill Bennett, Janet