In Jane Austen's Persuasion, Lady Russell convinces Anne not to marry Frederick Wentworth as she finds him unworthy of Anne. Similarly, in Hedda Gabler, Hedda herself hides her knowledge and destroys Eilert's manuscript to end her and Thea's relationship. Involving yourself in the affairs of others can satisfy your desire for control. However, this behavior is often symptomatic of a disconnection between one's personal consciousness and one's personal and collective unconscious self. Henrik Ibsen masterfully uses Tesman's piano to symbolize Hedda's personal and collective unconscious desire for control, while also serving as a vehicle to show her reconciliation with the two at the end. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Ibsen's work, and particularly his symbolism, can be understood through reference to the psychology of Carl Jung, who divides the psyche into three main areas of analysis: personal conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious. Jung attributes the creation of the “person” to personal consciousness. The person envelops the constructed external appearance that is shown to the world. While Jung recognizes only one consciousness (the personal one), he distinguishes unconsciousness between personal and collective. The personal unconscious differs within individuals, while the collective unconscious remains the same for each person due to the uniformity of the human psyche. The personal unconscious holds the “shadow”. The shadow contains the darkest and most shameful impulses that you personally feel but do not consciously recognize. The collective unconscious hosts the “animus/anima” archetype. Animus refers to women's masculine traits that can balance their femininity or overpower it. Soul refers to feminine traits in men. Jung believes that to achieve individuation it is necessary to reconcile the person with the shadow and recognize one's archetype. Individuation is the process of recognizing one's unconscious nature and incorporating it into consciousness. The appearance of the piano at the beginning of the first act shows the pressure that others put on Hedda to diminish her male desire for control which she attempts to give in to but ultimately fails. A. Although it was not explicitly forced on her, Hedda feels enormous pressure from society and family to have a child. The expectation remains clear when Aunt Juliana jokes with Tesman that she will “find a use for them [two empty rooms], over time.” (Ibsen 24). The pressure manifests itself physically on the piano when Berta places Aunt Juliana's bouquet on the piano and Hedda removes it. However, Hedda succumbs to the softening of her unconscious stubbornness in certain situations, such as when she agrees to refer to Aunt Juliana as "aunt" to appease Tesman. (38). He shows a certain degree of compromise when he states, “I'm just looking at my old piano. With all the other things it doesn't go well at all... Let's say we put it there, in the internal room...” (39). By placing the piano, a symbol of his masculine desire for control, deeper into the house, he represses the feeling rather than abandoning it. Hedda's piano playing at the beginning of Act IV reveals how her control over Eilert satisfied his desire for control for the time period. After the dramatic conclusion of Act III, Hedda plays the piano for the first time, which the stage directions describe as “a few chords.”(174). At this point in the play, Hedda has effectively destroyed Eilert and Thea's relationship by hiding her knowledge of the manuscript and then incinerating it. Hedda heard the.