There are several reasons why August Strindberg (1849-1912)is generally considered one of the leading dramatists around1900. The most significant is undoubtedly his power to createmeaningful and arresting plays, that is, plays marked by an in-fallible feeling for what is specific to the dramatic genre. Withhis around sixty plays, Strindberg today counts as one of thegreat innovators of modern drama.

The aim of this book is to throw some light, be it fragmen-tary, on Strindberg as a dramatic craftsman. And to suggest thatit is not least in this underexposed area that his mastershipshows. While many of Strindberg’s plays are examined fromthis point of view, special attention is paid to some of the bestknown dramas, easily accessible in English translation.

However, since the dramaturgic problems confrontingStrindberg are to a great extent problems facing any (modern)playwright, the book addresses itself also to those interested indramaturgy generally. A pervading idea is the distinction be-tween the page and the stage, the reader’s text and the specta-tor’s performance. We need not only recognize that drama bynecessity is a hybrid genre; we need also, more than has hither-to been done, to examine the consequences of this fact.

For quotes from Strindberg’s plays I owe much to existingversions in English, although I have sometimes felt free to use

Preface

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my own rendering when this seemed called for. In the interestof reader-friendliness, I have abstained from page references tothe plays.

A few technical hints may be useful. ‘Recipient’ is used as anumbrella term for reader and spectator. In my text the recipientis consistently referred to as ‘he’; for this read ‘he and/or she.’Three dots within quotations indicate either a pause or inter-rupted speech. Omissions within quotations are indicated by ahyphen within square brackets: [-].

SV stands for August Strindbergs Samlade Verk (AugustStrindberg’s Collected Works); the figures following the abbre-viation indicate volume and page(s). S stands for Strindberg’sworks, as listed under “Source and target texts” in “Citedworks.” In the Play Index the English titles, in alphabethical or-der, are followed by the original Swedish titles.

A substantial part of this book has appeared earlier. ChapterOne is partly based on “Strindberg on Page and Stage: MissJulie as Paradigmatic Example” in Kirsten Wechsel, ed., Strind-berg and His Media, Leipzig/Berlin 2003. Chapter Two owessomething to “Strindberg’s Secondary Text” in Modern Drama,23: 4, 1990. Chapter Three is based on “Sättet att börja styck-en – om Strindbergs pjäsöppningar,” Tijdschrift voor Skandi-navistiek, 30: 1, 2009. Chapter Four relies on “Strindberg andSubjective Drama” in Michael Robinson’s edition Strindbergand Genre, Norwich 1991. Chapter Five appeared in Scandi-navica, 38: 1, 1999, as “Unreliable Narration in StrindbergianDrama.” Chapter Six was published as “‘Tid och rum existeraicke’: Tidsproblematiken i Strindbergs Ett drömspel,” in Agora:Journal for metafysisk spekulasjon, 3, 1996. Part of Chapter Seven appeared as “Translating Strindbergian Imagery for theStage” in Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek, 19: 1, 1998. ChapterEight, finally, is largely based on “The Strindbergian One-Acter,” Scandinavian Studies, 68: 3, 1996. All articles have herebeen thoroughly revised.

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VII

Those who wish to know more about the literature onStrindberg’s plays may turn to vol. 2 of An International Anno-tated Bibliography of Strindberg Studies 1870-2005, 1-3, 2008,edited by Michael Robinson.

I am most grateful to prof. Franco Perrelli for his willingnessto include this volume in the series Biblioteca dello SpettacoloNordico.

E. T.

When one is young, one sees the web set up: parents, rel-atives, friends, acquaintances, servants are the warp; lat-er on in life one sees the weft; and the shuttle of fate car-ries the thread back and forth; sometimes it breaks but itis tied together again, and then it goes on; the beam falls,the yarn is forced into twists and turns, and the web isdone. In old age when one’s eyes can really see, one dis-covers that all the twists and turns form a pattern, a ci-pher, an ornament, a hieroglyphic, which one can now in-terpret for the first time: That is life! The world weaverhas woven it!

The Burned Site (1907)

I found it easiest to write plays; people and events tookshape, wove themselves together, and this work gave meso much pleasure that I found life sheer bliss as long as Ikept on writing and I still do. Only then am I truly alive!

Strindberg in interview (1909)

StrindbergThe Master Weaver

Preface V

Reception 3Texts 21

Opening 37

Subjectivism 53

Reliability 67

Time 87

Imagery 103

Genre 115

Cited Works 127Play Index 131

Contents