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Plays by August Strindberg: The Dream Play - The Link - The Dance of Death
August Strindberg is considered the father of modern Swedish literature. Here are collected three of his finest plays, written during what he called his 'Inferno period', a period just following a series of psychotic episodes, they are full of wild imagery, intense and powerful characters and touch on realism and naturalism in a groundbreaking way for the time. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1912
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About the author
August Strindberg
1,925 books775 followersJohan August Strindberg, a Swede, wrote psychological realism of noted novels and plays, including
Miss Julie
(1888) and
The Dance of Death
(1901).
Johan August Strindberg painted. He alongside Henrik Ibsen, Søren Kierkegaard, Selma Lagerlöf, Hans Christian Andersen, and Snorri Sturluson arguably most influenced of all famous Scandinavian authors. People know this father of modern theatre. His work falls into major literary movements of naturalism and expressionism. People widely read him internationally to this day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_...
Johan August Strindberg painted. He alongside Henrik Ibsen, Søren Kierkegaard, Selma Lagerlöf, Hans Christian Andersen, and Snorri Sturluson arguably most influenced of all famous Scandinavian authors. People know this father of modern theatre. His work falls into major literary movements of naturalism and expressionism. People widely read him internationally to this day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 4, 2017
This is the first of four volumes of Strindberg's plays as translated by Edwin Björkman in 1912. The idiom is a bit structured for a modern reader but I believe it is preferable to any attempt to modernize it. Strindberg's themes and style of writing are very much a product of his time and his intention. Any attempt to alter that in the name of 'modernization' would be a loss. Björkman includes a short introduction which is both interesting and a valuable key to Strindberg and his life. Strindberg was still living in 1912 and Björkman knew him. I believe that this translation is still in print. I, happily, stumbled upon a set of the first edition and could not resist.
In this volume, there are four separate plays, although the last two are linked, being 'The Dance of Death, Part I and The Dance of Death, Part II. I am beginning with what is one of Strindberg's most famous works, The Dream Play. I shall not review them all for this would drag on.
Before getting into the play itself, Strindberg give us an introduction of sorts, 'A Reminder'. He tells us that, "the author has tried to imitate the seemingly logical form of a dream. Anything may happen; everything is possible and probable." "The characters split, double, multiply, vanish, solidify, blur, clarify. But one consciousness reigns above them all - that of the dreamer: ..."
And thus the play unfolds. Indeed, it strikes me that many of the original members of the play's audience must have been quite baffled by the play. So might members of a modern day audience. Perhaps Strindberg's original, Lutheran audience was more in tune with the meaning of much of the symbolism in the play. While the play is not intentionally Christian, it does carry a great deal of Christian symbolism - I think!!! On the other hand, there is, may be, Hindu symbolism too.
The story is relatively simple. Agnes, daughter of the Hindu god Indra comes down to Earth. As she descends, she hears the voices of humanity rising up to her. "It sounds as if - it has no happy ring!" Her father instructs her to:
Descend, that you my see and hear, and then
Return and let me know if their complaints
And wailings have some reasonable ground--
And so she descends to Earth to find herself before a castle - “... the apex of which is formed by a bud resembling a crown. She thus starts her life on Earth where she encounters a glazier, an officer, a father, a mother, a lawyer, and a poet; generally nameless characters, but ones with whom she interacts. Indeed, she marries the Lawyer and they have a child together. This all occurs within a foreshortened time frame, with a great deal of jumping around in time and space, and Agnes is quickly caught up in the misery and duty of human life. At the same time, we are led to believe that years have passed.
I cannot begin to analyze all of the symbolism in this play. Strindberg could compete with Joyce on that front and I am not Joseph Campbell. We start with “Agnes” - the lamb – an obvious reference to Christ. But then, perhaps “Agnes could also be a reference to “Agni”, twin brother of Indra. Agni, in Hindu myth, may be seen as the bringer of light and the end of suffering for humanity – just like Christ maybe.
Then there’s the castle and the bud which both seem to be growing out of a manure pile. Each of the other characters obviously stand for their roles in society, roles in which they are trapped, as Strindberg saw society as extremely restrictive. There is the locked door. It is forbidden to open the door, but by whom? What is behind it? Read the play and find out. Further symbols seem to be: the sun (spiritual growth); fire (purification?); shoes which Agnes throws into the fire as she frees herself of the hold (the child!!!) that her Earthly life has upon her. There are many more, most of which escape me as to their meaning.
What is evident is that, early on, Agnes recognizises that humanity’s lot is a painful one. Throughout the play she repeats the phrase, “It’s a shame about the people!” or “Men are to be pitied!” At one point, Agnes decides to go beyond the passive role assigned by her father:
“THE LAWYER. Tell me, sister. can I have that shawl I shall keep it here until I have a fire in my grate, and then I shall burn it with all its miseries and sorrows
THE DAUGHTER. Not yet, brother. I want it to hold all it possibly can, and I want it above all to take up your agonies all the confidences you have received about crime, vice, robbery, slander, abuse.
THE LAWYER. My dear girl, for such a purpose your shawl would prove totally insufficient. Look at these walls. Does it not look as if the wall-paper itself had been soiled by every conceivable sin.”
Here we see Agnes attempting to take up the sins of humankind. But it is made clear that this is not enough so Agnes takes another step to try to bring an end to the pain through love:
“THE DAUGHTER. Hither the plaint of the mortals has reached no farther. But why this never-ending wailing? Is there then nothing in life to rejoice at?
THE LAWYER. Yes, what is most sweet, and what is also most bitter - love - wife and home - the highest and the lowest!
THE DAUGHTER. May I try it?
THE LAWYER. With me?
THE DAUGHTER. With you. You know the rocks, the stumbling stones. Let us avoid them.
THE LAWYER. I am so poor.
THE DAUGHTER. What does that matter if we only love each other? And a little beauty costs nothing.
THE LAWYER. I have dislikes which may prove your likes.
THE DAUGHTER. They can be adjusted.
THE LAWYER. And if we tire of it?
THE DAUGHTER. Then come the children and bring with them a diversion that remains for ever new.
THE LAWYER. You, you will take me, poor and ugly, scorned and rejected.
THE DAUGHTER. Yes - let us unite our destinies.
THE LAWYER. So be it then!
Agnes is making the supreme sacrifice here. Strindberg went through several marriages, all of which continued to haunt him throughout his life. Indeed, in the final analysis, it was with his children that he found comfort. Here though, the reference to children is surely meant to bring a smile to the audience. Children can be greatest weight of all in a marriage. Agnes is clearly naive about love and life.
I shall not go through the entire plot. I think that it is clear where this is heading. IS there salvation? Is Agnes Christlike in her sacrifice? The clearest hints of salvation come in her discussions with the Poet. I see in this character, some of Strindberg himself, but then he is also in the Lawyer, as well as, perhaps, in others. The Poet makes an obvious reference to Christ shortly before Agnes reascends to heaven:
“THE DAUGHTER. It is not easy to be human!
THE POET. You see and admit it
THE DAUGHTER. I do.
THE POET. Listen! Was it not Indra, that once sent his son down here to receive the complaints of mankind
THE DAUGHTER. Thus it happened and how was he received?
THE POET. How did he fill his mission? - to answer with another question.
THE DAUGHTER. And if I may reply with still another was not man's position bettered by his visit to the earth? Answer truly!
THE POET. Bettered? Yes a little. A very little - But instead of asking questions - will you not tell the riddle?"
And Agnes does answer the riddle, but really it will never bring us peace. I will leave it there so that you may read it yourself and find your own peace, perhaps.
The Dream Play, indeed, all of the plays in this volume are a satisfying read. It is interesting how when we read a play, we are willing to allow for a greater distance from our known world and to allow the playwright to take us into his reality. This is different than in Science Fiction or in Fantasy because, more so in the other three plays in the volume, Strindberg offers us another view. It is meant to be more like our reality (not a dream), but in these plays time is always distended, the dialogue is always somewhat exaggerated. I find that I do suspend judgment to allow Strindberg to have his ways with me. I do not believe that I would easily give up my judgmental self were I to encounter a novel so written – Okay. Maybe Becket :-}
In this volume, there are four separate plays, although the last two are linked, being 'The Dance of Death, Part I and The Dance of Death, Part II. I am beginning with what is one of Strindberg's most famous works, The Dream Play. I shall not review them all for this would drag on.
Before getting into the play itself, Strindberg give us an introduction of sorts, 'A Reminder'. He tells us that, "the author has tried to imitate the seemingly logical form of a dream. Anything may happen; everything is possible and probable." "The characters split, double, multiply, vanish, solidify, blur, clarify. But one consciousness reigns above them all - that of the dreamer: ..."
And thus the play unfolds. Indeed, it strikes me that many of the original members of the play's audience must have been quite baffled by the play. So might members of a modern day audience. Perhaps Strindberg's original, Lutheran audience was more in tune with the meaning of much of the symbolism in the play. While the play is not intentionally Christian, it does carry a great deal of Christian symbolism - I think!!! On the other hand, there is, may be, Hindu symbolism too.
The story is relatively simple. Agnes, daughter of the Hindu god Indra comes down to Earth. As she descends, she hears the voices of humanity rising up to her. "It sounds as if - it has no happy ring!" Her father instructs her to:
Descend, that you my see and hear, and then
Return and let me know if their complaints
And wailings have some reasonable ground--
And so she descends to Earth to find herself before a castle - “... the apex of which is formed by a bud resembling a crown. She thus starts her life on Earth where she encounters a glazier, an officer, a father, a mother, a lawyer, and a poet; generally nameless characters, but ones with whom she interacts. Indeed, she marries the Lawyer and they have a child together. This all occurs within a foreshortened time frame, with a great deal of jumping around in time and space, and Agnes is quickly caught up in the misery and duty of human life. At the same time, we are led to believe that years have passed.
I cannot begin to analyze all of the symbolism in this play. Strindberg could compete with Joyce on that front and I am not Joseph Campbell. We start with “Agnes” - the lamb – an obvious reference to Christ. But then, perhaps “Agnes could also be a reference to “Agni”, twin brother of Indra. Agni, in Hindu myth, may be seen as the bringer of light and the end of suffering for humanity – just like Christ maybe.
Then there’s the castle and the bud which both seem to be growing out of a manure pile. Each of the other characters obviously stand for their roles in society, roles in which they are trapped, as Strindberg saw society as extremely restrictive. There is the locked door. It is forbidden to open the door, but by whom? What is behind it? Read the play and find out. Further symbols seem to be: the sun (spiritual growth); fire (purification?); shoes which Agnes throws into the fire as she frees herself of the hold (the child!!!) that her Earthly life has upon her. There are many more, most of which escape me as to their meaning.
What is evident is that, early on, Agnes recognizises that humanity’s lot is a painful one. Throughout the play she repeats the phrase, “It’s a shame about the people!” or “Men are to be pitied!” At one point, Agnes decides to go beyond the passive role assigned by her father:
“THE LAWYER. Tell me, sister. can I have that shawl I shall keep it here until I have a fire in my grate, and then I shall burn it with all its miseries and sorrows
THE DAUGHTER. Not yet, brother. I want it to hold all it possibly can, and I want it above all to take up your agonies all the confidences you have received about crime, vice, robbery, slander, abuse.
THE LAWYER. My dear girl, for such a purpose your shawl would prove totally insufficient. Look at these walls. Does it not look as if the wall-paper itself had been soiled by every conceivable sin.”
Here we see Agnes attempting to take up the sins of humankind. But it is made clear that this is not enough so Agnes takes another step to try to bring an end to the pain through love:
“THE DAUGHTER. Hither the plaint of the mortals has reached no farther. But why this never-ending wailing? Is there then nothing in life to rejoice at?
THE LAWYER. Yes, what is most sweet, and what is also most bitter - love - wife and home - the highest and the lowest!
THE DAUGHTER. May I try it?
THE LAWYER. With me?
THE DAUGHTER. With you. You know the rocks, the stumbling stones. Let us avoid them.
THE LAWYER. I am so poor.
THE DAUGHTER. What does that matter if we only love each other? And a little beauty costs nothing.
THE LAWYER. I have dislikes which may prove your likes.
THE DAUGHTER. They can be adjusted.
THE LAWYER. And if we tire of it?
THE DAUGHTER. Then come the children and bring with them a diversion that remains for ever new.
THE LAWYER. You, you will take me, poor and ugly, scorned and rejected.
THE DAUGHTER. Yes - let us unite our destinies.
THE LAWYER. So be it then!
Agnes is making the supreme sacrifice here. Strindberg went through several marriages, all of which continued to haunt him throughout his life. Indeed, in the final analysis, it was with his children that he found comfort. Here though, the reference to children is surely meant to bring a smile to the audience. Children can be greatest weight of all in a marriage. Agnes is clearly naive about love and life.
I shall not go through the entire plot. I think that it is clear where this is heading. IS there salvation? Is Agnes Christlike in her sacrifice? The clearest hints of salvation come in her discussions with the Poet. I see in this character, some of Strindberg himself, but then he is also in the Lawyer, as well as, perhaps, in others. The Poet makes an obvious reference to Christ shortly before Agnes reascends to heaven:
“THE DAUGHTER. It is not easy to be human!
THE POET. You see and admit it
THE DAUGHTER. I do.
THE POET. Listen! Was it not Indra, that once sent his son down here to receive the complaints of mankind
THE DAUGHTER. Thus it happened and how was he received?
THE POET. How did he fill his mission? - to answer with another question.
THE DAUGHTER. And if I may reply with still another was not man's position bettered by his visit to the earth? Answer truly!
THE POET. Bettered? Yes a little. A very little - But instead of asking questions - will you not tell the riddle?"
And Agnes does answer the riddle, but really it will never bring us peace. I will leave it there so that you may read it yourself and find your own peace, perhaps.
The Dream Play, indeed, all of the plays in this volume are a satisfying read. It is interesting how when we read a play, we are willing to allow for a greater distance from our known world and to allow the playwright to take us into his reality. This is different than in Science Fiction or in Fantasy because, more so in the other three plays in the volume, Strindberg offers us another view. It is meant to be more like our reality (not a dream), but in these plays time is always distended, the dialogue is always somewhat exaggerated. I find that I do suspend judgment to allow Strindberg to have his ways with me. I do not believe that I would easily give up my judgmental self were I to encounter a novel so written – Okay. Maybe Becket :-}
October 1, 2025
August Strindberg, “Father of Modern Swedish Theatre,” was a polymath. He wrote over 60 plays and created 117 paintings, along with an impressive portfolio of photography. He was also a student of theosophy and the occult.
In the late 1890’s he entered what is called his “Inferno period.” It was characterized by divorce, custody battles, alcohol, absinthe, and near-psychotic episodes. From this period came a series of plays often grouped together: The Dream Play, The Link, and The Dance of Death, Parts I & II.
The Dream Play is a fantasy in fourteen scenes written in 1901. The play is modernist, surreal, and dreamlike. In it, Strindberg explores the themes of materialism, class struggle, gender role struggle, and the destruction of traditional marriage.
The central character is Agnes, a daughter of the Vedic god Indra, who goes to Earth to analyze the problems of human beings. She meets about 40 characters, some obviously symbolic, others more nebulous. After witnessing all sorts of human suffering: poverty, cruelty, and the routine of family life, the daughter of gods realizes that human beings are to be pitied. Only the Poet, who has created the dream, seems unaffected by human suffering. Finally, she returns to Heaven, and this moment corresponds to the awakening from a dream-like sequence of events. Life is an illusion, like a dream
In the late 1890’s he entered what is called his “Inferno period.” It was characterized by divorce, custody battles, alcohol, absinthe, and near-psychotic episodes. From this period came a series of plays often grouped together: The Dream Play, The Link, and The Dance of Death, Parts I & II.
The Dream Play is a fantasy in fourteen scenes written in 1901. The play is modernist, surreal, and dreamlike. In it, Strindberg explores the themes of materialism, class struggle, gender role struggle, and the destruction of traditional marriage.
The central character is Agnes, a daughter of the Vedic god Indra, who goes to Earth to analyze the problems of human beings. She meets about 40 characters, some obviously symbolic, others more nebulous. After witnessing all sorts of human suffering: poverty, cruelty, and the routine of family life, the daughter of gods realizes that human beings are to be pitied. Only the Poet, who has created the dream, seems unaffected by human suffering. Finally, she returns to Heaven, and this moment corresponds to the awakening from a dream-like sequence of events. Life is an illusion, like a dream
December 21, 2018
The Dream Play and The Dance of Death go to the list of remarkable. Evidently, I must say that Ibsen share common themes with the later play and also, Strindberg's Lucky Pehr ideas are shadowed therein.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews