A Review at :http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=22&sid=b0254814-075b-4fd6-bead-dbc872f62b8c%40SRCSM1&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=4423181
In a personal interview, Michael Bright, author of Robert Browning's Rondures Brave, summed up his book's thesis: "Robert Browning frequently used the circular conclusion--a rhetorical device in which a word or phrase from the introduction is repeated in the conclusion--to emphasize important themes in his poems. Many of his nineteenth-century contemporaries also recognized the effectiveness of the circular conclusion and used it in their work, both prose and poetry." One of those nineteenth-century writers is Henrik Ibsen, who in Hedda Gabler displays a form of this technique, using not words and phrases but his protagonist's initial and final appearances on stage. These parallel actions underscore a major aspect of Hedda's personality and provide a valuable insight into the final moments of one of literature's most intriguing characters.
Early in act 1 Hedda makes her initial appearance. Wearing a morning gown, she comes into the drawing room, having just waked up to the morning. Her attitude toward the other characters on stage is sarcastic, revealing that she believes herself better than Tesman and his Aunt Julia, a woman for whom Hedda shows disdain by making cruel jokes about her hat. More important, her entrance introduces her dominant trait, a desire to control those she feels to be beneath her--especially Tesman. Ibsen stresses this point by Hedda's first demand on her husband. Complaining that because the maid has left the French windows open "This light is blinding me," she implores, "Tesman dear, draw the curtains" (1260). To her pleasure he quickly complies. Ibsen uses this miniscene to juxtapose two important aspects of Hedda Gabler's character--she must control those around her, and she can't stand the harsh light of reality, a reality that Ibsen will reveal as usurping the very control that Hedda desires.
Ibsen's use of the circular conclusion is obvious when Hedda makes her final exit in act 4. Whereas act 1 opened in the morning, now it is evening, a time of endings. Instead of a morning gown, emphasizing a new beginning, she wears a funeral-black outfit, foreshadowing the play's conclusion. Whereas she entered the drawing room in act 1 waking to the day, now she departs, saying, "I'm tired this evening. I think I'll lie down [...] for a little while" (1313). The characters on stage are still Hedda and Tesman, but Thea Elvsted and Judge Brack have replaced Aunt Juju, who could be manipulated easily. Hedda's haughty sarcasm has been superseded by defeatism, as illustrated by her capitulation to Judge Brack: "In other words, I'm in your power, Judge. From now on, you've got your hold on me" (1312). Ibsen uses Hedda's actual exit to stress that she has come full circle. In act 1 her control over Tesman was symbolized by her having him close the curtain for her. In act 4, not only does Thea now control George as Hedda used to (as evidenced by Thea's sitting beside him at Hedda's writing table in hopes that she can "inspire" him as she once did Loevborg), but Judge Brack pulls Hedda's strings, because he knows Hedda gave Loevborg the weapon that killed him. As she enters the little room in which she will end her life, a defeated Hedda closes the curtains herself, a simple act that returns the audience to the beginning and emphasizes both Hedda's lack of control and her complete withdrawal from a reality she cannot accept.
Ibsen employs the circular conclusion technique to provide his audience with a glimpse into the key aspect of Hedda's personality and to answer the most important question posed by the play: What drives this protagonist to her final act?

When reading this review it makes me really understand where they are coming from. Initially I did not see the parallels between her dress, and time of day but now it makes perfect sense. I agree with this review in that Hedda's main goal is control and that the reality of her situation is that she is losing control not gaining control. This review actually makes me take pity on Hedda. She never gets out of the circle. She has lost everything, where as everyone else has gained more and more. The curtains are also another aspect I did not notice-- one can think of curtains in a play open is beginning closing is end thus when Hedda closed them it was evident that the end was near. And the "circular conclusion technique" (once explained above) dues truly explain Hedda's indifference to life because why would what to continually life in that everlasting circle?