Easter

by August Strindberg, Gregory Motton (Translator)

The Heyst family live under a shadow. The father is in prison for embezzlement and the daughter, Eleanora, has been committed to an asylum. Mrs Heyst and her son Elis live from day to day on the edge of collapse. They fear that they are on the brink of ruin, but as the snow melts and a single daffodil appears, Easter Eve brings them hope, joy and mercy.


Passionate and powerful, Easter is August Strindberg's most tender play and perhaps closest to his heart. It is a play about forgiveness and the coincidences of life from one of the world's master dramatists.
Strindberg was Sweden's greatest playwright, famous for his gripping and unforgettable dramas of human life and love, whose work inspired O'Neill, Williams, Beckett and Pinter.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics, Literature, Theatre, Swedish Literature, Sweden

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

Johan 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_...

Reviews

[Axel Djärv · Rating 5 out of 5]

En förlösande läsning som gör det smärtsamma värt mödan,
skiljer sig från de uppgivna Till Damaskus, Spöksonaten och Fadren.
Om bara jag hade läst klart boken under påskhelgen.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot believe this abominable play was actually written by Strindberg. Awkward, trite, and sickeningly optimistic, entirely bathed in the blood of Christ. I honestly feel betrayed.

[Komail · Rating 3 out of 5]

■ عید پاک - یوهان آگوست استریندبرگ(1849-1912 سوید)
■■" ...زندگی محیط یک دایره است؛ همه چیز یک دور می زند و دوباره به همان نقطه برمی گردد. هر عملی خودش را جواب می دهد."
■■■نمایشنامه در سه پرده رخ میدهد، هر پرده یک روز
روز اول Holly Tursday " پنجشنبه مقدس"
روز دوم Good Friday " جمعه مقدس"
روز سوم Easter "عید پاک یا عید قیام"
موضوع خانواده ایست که بدلیل اختلاس پدر وضع مالی و روحی نامناسبی دارند و ....
■■■■ترجمه اکبر فلاح زاده ستودنی است.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this which is always great when you have to read stuff for monologues and don't hate it!! I wish I owned a copy because there were many moments where I wanted to tab and make a note of certain quotes which are still really relevant nowadays. I also really enjoyed the writing.

[Amir]

داوری «عید پاک» به‌راستی دشوار است، متنی بسیار ظریف که از جهاتی هم فوق‌العاده ساده‌انگار می‌نماید. فقط با گذشت زمان و بازخوانی است که می‌شود درباره‌اش قضاوت کرد.

[Dídac Gil Rams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una obra (o una fàbula) on l'optimisme brilla enmig de les adversitats més humanes gràcies a un cop de mà diví.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

عید پاک (1901)، یک نمایش نامه ای سمبلیک و مذهبی ست.

استریندبرگ را با خواندن "مادموازل ژولی" شناختم. بعدها که آثار دیگری از او و ایبسن، نویسنده ی نروژی خواندم، بنظر می رسید حس غریب غربتی مشابه، همه جای فضا و شخصیت های آثار این دو نمایش نامه نویس را انباشته است. با دیدن فیلم های "برگمان" (سوئدی)، حس می کردم با فضاهای ملانکولیک او پیش از آن آشنا بوده ام. وقتی چند سالی ساکن جوامع اسکاندیناوی باشی این ملانکولی را بهتر درک می کنی؛ روزهای کوتاه و تاریک زمستان های بلند، و روزهای بلند و روشن تابستان های کوتاه! از دانمارک و سوئد که بالاتر بروی، تا نروژ و فنلاند و ایسلند، با تجربه ی شبی به بلندی چهارماه زمستان، و روز کشداری به وسعت سه ماه تابستان، و بادها و ابرهای عجولی که در چند لایه در گذر اند، و... دلزدگی ملانکولیکی در سینه ات انباشته می شود، به ویژه که از سمت "آفتاب" آمده باشی.
بسیاری از تحولات شگرف جوامع اسکاندیناوی مدیون نگاه پیشرو نویسندگانی چون ایبسن و استریندبرگ است که در اواخر قرن نوزده و ابتدای قرن بیستم زندگی می کردند. استریندبرگ اما بیش از ایبسن درگیر مبارزه میان مذهب و آموزش مذهبی، با جهان تازه ای ست که بخش غربی اروپا را فراگرفته بود و به شکلی آرام، گسترده می شد.
یوهان اگوست استریندبرگ (1912-1849)، در مکاتب مختلف تیاتری، نمایش نامه نوشته. او به عنوان پدر ادبیات مدرن، و "اتاق قرمز" یکی از اولین قصه هایش (1879)، به عنوان اولین رمان مدرن سوئد شناخته می شود. عمده ترین نمایش نامه های استریندبرگ، آنهایی هستند که از سوی کلیسای مسلط مذموم شناخته شدند. به علت مخالفت کلیسا و جامعه ی مذهبی، استریندبرگ مدتی ساکن آلمان و فرانسه بود.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strangely optimistic play from a playwright who preferred to show relations between humans as being profoundly destructive. In Easter Strindberg implies that grace may indeed exist occasionally allowing people to love one another rather than destroying each other psychologically. The mood of his hopeful play is very similar to that of "Wild Strawberries" by Ingmar Bergman who was also rather parsimonious with hope.

[وائل المنعم · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Peter Watts' translation.

Maybe it's the most optimistic play Strindberg ever wrote, Although the play - as all Strindberg's plays - influenced by his real life sad events "His father's bankrupt and his sister's illness - this time" but the hope and believe in tomorrow overhanging the whole play even in its saddest moments.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ponderous, Bergmanesque, insane and depressing, but strangely charming nonetheless.

[TAB · Rating 4 out of 5]

It ain't no lie that Strindberg is a depressing dude, but against all odds this play ended on a happy note. I can't say I was cheering for any of the characters except possibly for the precocious schoolboy to get the hell away from that family, but there is a great bit about how Swedish towns/cities are dead in the summer that is as true today as it was in 1901:

"I've spent three summers here, and it's like a tomb. Even at midday one sees the long grey streets winding like a ditch, without a man or a horse or a dog! The rats come out of the sewers, because the cats are on their summer holidays! And the few people who are left here sit behind their windows, that are like mirrors, and spy on their neighbours' clothes - 'Look - that man's got his winter clothes one!' - and on their neighbours' worn shoes, and all their other defects."

The best literary aspect of the play is how Strindberg weaves the story of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Long Friday, Easter Eve) into the characters' speech and neuroses; some of it is heavy handed but it plays so perfectly and there's a bit at the end around this point that I could see on stage just being brilliant.

[Christopher Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this play performed at a theatre festival I attended in college, and I loved it for its it's message of mercy in the face of justice. I was enamored of Strindberg then. Now, a lot of the shine is gone as I can see his weak and silly female characters and his misogyny. The final scene in this play, though, is still very powerful as mercy is given where justice could have rightfully been demanded.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. A cheesy play with heavy, clichéd symbolism of innocence, sacrifice, and redemption. Strindberg meets the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Ugh.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one suspects from a Strindberg play (though we have enough pessimism and suffering to get us to the finish line) but so solidly constructed one doesn’t mind the sentimental ending.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dark play…one of Strindberg’s masterpieces and one of his most hopeful, in the end. The drama centeres around a family in disgrace. The father has been imprisoned for embezzlement of funds. The daughter has gone made. The wife and son slide toward financial ruin and tragedy. On Easter, a mercy appears. The man who could have been their tormentor turns to their salvation, because of a kindness paid to him earlier by the committer of sin – the father. “LINDKVIST: My child, I can’t help your father to escape from his punishment, or Benjamin from his Latin examination. But I have already helped with the rest. Life can’t give you everything, and it gives nothing free; so you must help me….Will you?” (174) This is a play filled with grief and tragedy. The ending is striking for its hopeful note.


See my other reviews here!

[Josh Friedlander]

Beautiful, haunting, inspiring.