Miss Julie

July 2018

Miss Julie 

Strindberg, August. Miss Julie. Translated by E.M. Sprinchorn. Chandler, 1961.

Miss Julie was a show created to bring about Naturalism, a theatrical form that went further than realism into the mixed motivations and power struggles both within people and between people of different genders and classes. It tells the story of Miss Julie, the daughter of a Count, who seduces her father’s steward and must deal with the consequences of her decision, which she immediately regrets. While the play is intended to show the natural progression of thoughts and emotions, and to deal with the conflicting motivations of sexual allure, ambition and those in authority I found it to be a bit of a “straw man” argument for all of these things. Had Strindberg written the play without prejudice I would have liked it more, but it was clear that he had a very low opinion of women and I couldn’t  help but feel that Miss Julie was created as an archetype of all the things that Strindberg didn’t like about women, simply so he would be able to cause her demise once the play ends. She is equally authoritative and utterly needy, sexually promiscuous but feeling like the sexual encounter she was seeking ended up destroying her life. I did not find her “natural” in any way, but a shallow look at women with no desire to understand them.