August Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888): The lioness that must be defeated
"Life is not so foolishly and mathematically arranged that the great always devour the small. It happens equally often that a bee kills a lion, or at any rate drives it mad." - August Strindberg's Preface to Miss Julie (1888) This is a playtext review. Julie in Strindberg’s eponymous play does not drive anyone mad. She is driven mad. She is driven to suicide in this class play that is also a gender power play. It reflects Strindberg's contempt for young aristocratic women and lack of faith in their ability to fashion themselves or their lives into something worthwhile. Miss Julie represents a modern woman in the late 19th century; independent and full of a would be kind of agency, based more in desire and will than in politically or ideologically sanctioned power. She wants to make her own choices in life and love. Yet, she lives in a world that demands of women a fortitude and vision that Strindberg does not give her. The tragedy of Miss Julie is made out in Stri...