Why does Hedda marry George Tesman?

Hedda marries George Tesman because age, money, and respectability pressure a general’s daughter to settle — and because Tesman’s dull reliability seemed safer than scandalous attachment to Lovborg. She expected material comfort and social prominence; the honeymoon debt and academic grind disappoint those hopes. Marriage and domesticity theme her regret: she chose a hostess role without love.

Ibsen hints she feared becoming like Aunt Rina, useless and pitied, if she refused all offers. Class and status matter: Tesman’s expected professorship promises security. Students should avoid moralizing only — Hedda’s choice is structurally limited. Her subsequent manipulation is what happens when a sharp mind signs a contract it despises but will not publicly break until the pistols speak.