life, calling her a slut all the while, as Hedda huddled near the sofa and watched, and then Bill Rust kicked them both out of his house...Martha stayed in hospital for seventy hours and then left, without a doctor's discharge, without leaving a forwarding address, and without Hedda.
             (pp. 173) Hedda's childhood provided a juxtaposed portrayal of her true character. I was able to understand that her attitude towards Tully was unloving and spiteful due to her own unhappy upbringing as a young child. While initially I identified Hedda as a tyrant, I was allowed to see that she is in fact a victim in her own right, and my attitude towards her character was challenged and altered. The flashbacks into other character's contexts allowed me to respond to particular aspects of the text with a greater understanding of the grounds upon which they have occurred and hence make links between different characters, actions, values and relationships.
             ...