Why does Ejlert Lovborg die in Hedda Gabler?

Lovborg dies because he relapses at Brack’s party, loses his manuscript, and shoots himself in despair — with Hedda’s pistol and her earlier push toward a “beautiful” suicide shaping his choice. His death is ugly and public in a brothel, defeating Hedda’s aesthetic fantasy and confirming Brack’s control over the scandal narrative.

Cowardice and courage invert: Lovborg’s sobriety was courage; his binge is weakness Hedda exploits then regrets. Destruction and creation theme the lost book as much as the lost life. Students should connect manuscript, pistol, and Hedda’s burning: each step removes Lovborg’s future until only violence remains.