The clash between the sinister and the sublime in Strindberg’s The Father and Miss Julie

Abstract

The article deals with naturalistic dramas by August Strindberg from the 1880s, namely his famous The Father and Miss Julie. Special attention is given to their stage history in different countries throughout the past century. The authors examine The Father and Miss Julie through the lens of how various ostents of the sinister and the sublime manifest themselves through the fabric of the playwright’s renowned plays from the pre-Inferno period. The two dramas are put in the wide context of Strindberg’s oeuvre where the opposition of low and higher appetences within a human being are often rendered as the clash between the feminine and the masculine. In addition to the above, the article draws attention to the ways of how the two dramas by Strindberg were received in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, especially by the Russian symbolist Alexander Blok. In addition to that the article includes valuable material on a number of theatre productions of The Father and Miss Julie as well on the reviews of some productions. In order to draw their conclusions the authors examine thoroughly the main characters of the plays. Thus, it becomes obvious that throughout the decades the Captain and miss Julie could be interpreted quite differently both by the scholars and by the directors. In a essayistic manner the article touches upon the question of the nature of Strindberg’s rampageous concern with the strife between the sexes as well as upon his so called misogyny.