Plays: The Father; Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger

Plays: The Father; Countess
Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger

by August Strindberg

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The Outlaw; The Stronger
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Title: Plays: The Father; Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger
Author: August Strindberg
Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8499] [This file was first posted on
July 17, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, PLAYS:
THE FATHER; COUNTESS JULIE; THE OUTLAW; THE
STRONGER ***

E-text prepared by Nicole Apostola

PLAYS: The Father Countess Julie The Outlaw The Stronger
by AUGUST STRINDBERG
Translated by Edith and Warner Oland

To M. C. S. and J. H. S., Under whose rooftree these translations were
made.

CONTENTS.
THE FATHER A Tragedy in III Acts.
COUNTESS JULIE A Tragedy in I Act.

THE OUTLAW A play in I Act.
THE STRONGER An Episode in I Scene.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
Since the accompanying biographical note, which aims solely at
outlining the principal events of Strindberg's life up to 1912, was put in
type, the news of his death from cancer, at Stockholm on May 14, 1912,
has been reported.
Of the plays included in the present volume, "The Father" and
"Countess Julie" are representative of Strindberg's high water mark in
dramatic technique and have successfully maintained their claim to a
permanent place, not only in dramatic literature, but, as acting plays.
"The Stronger," than which no better example of Strindberg's uncanny
power for analysis of the female mind exists, while essentially a
chamber play, is from time to time presented at the theatre, and affords
a splendid test of the dramatic ability of the actors, only one of whom
speaks. The author has boldly thrown on the other the burden of
maintaining her share in the development of the action by pantomime,
facial expression, and an occasional laugh.
"The Outlaw," although inferior in construction to the others, is still
played with success and is full of dignity and atmosphere. The
important part it played in promoting the fortunes of the author lends to
it an added interest which fully justifies its inclusion in this volume.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
"I tell you, you must have chaos in you, if you would give birth to a
dancing star." --Nietzsche.
In Stockholm, living almost as a recluse, August Strindberg is

dreaming life away. The dancing stars, sprung from the chaos of his
being, shine with an ever-increasing refulgence from the high-arched
dome of dramatic literature, but he no longer adds to their number. The
constellation of the Lion of the North is complete.
At sixty-three, worn by the emotional intensity of a life, into which has
been crowded the stress and storm of a universe, he sits at his desk,
every day transcribing to his diary a record of those mystical forces
which he says regulate his life.
Before him lies a crucifix, Hardly as a symbol of sectarian faith, for
Strindberg is a Swedenborgian, but a fitting accompaniment,
nevertheless, to a state of mind which he expresses in saying "One gets
more and more humble the longer one lives, and in the shadow of death
many things look different." A softer light beams from those blue eyes,
which, under that tossing crown of tawny hair flung high from a
speaking forehead, in times past flashed defiance at every opposition.
For him the fierce, unyielding, never-ceasing, ever-pressing strife of
mind and unrest of life is passing, an eddy in the tide has borne him
into quieter waters, and if the hum of the world reaches his solitude, it
no longer rouses him to headlong action.
Secure in his position as the foremost man of letters Sweden has
produced in modern times, the last representative of that distinguished
group of Scandinavian writers which included Ibsen, Bjornson and
Brandes, with a Continental reputation surpassing that of any one of
them, Strindberg well may be entitled to dream of the