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Strindberg: Five Plays
Plays dramatize class differences, sickness, dreams, the past, and the responsibilities of fatherhood
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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305 people want to read
About the author
August Strindberg
1,928 books776 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 9, 2016
Auguste Strindberg is a major playwright with whom I've too long been unfamiliar. He's a significant influence on the development of western theater. This succinct collection of five of his best works, quickly supplies my lack. I'm midway through this little tome--its brisk reading--and immediately grasp a sense of his style.
Frankly--although I can see why he became so influential--some of his inventiveness is not anything I'd seek out more of. Strindberg was writing in the 1890s - 1910s and there's fascination in that alone: plenty of quirky military officers, wealthy families, landed gentry, & devoted servants in his scenarios--a glimpse of old 'class-riven' Europe.
But the emotions he explores among his tortured characters are shrill, strained, over-febrile. Lurid. Everyone is a little high-strung and feverish in these plays; all-too-ready to break into frenzied speeches; gnash their teeth; tear their hair. It's quite over-wrought. There's a lot of characters extremely worried about 'their honor' and 'their reputation'.
The best play so far is the intriguing 'Dance of Death' which takes place (and this indicates the kind of thing you'll find in Strindberg) in a stone-block tower in a military garrison in an army outpost on a remote island off the coast. Communication with the mainland is via telegraph only. You get the idea.
Where Strindberg excels, though--I must say this in closing--is in one very valuable area of stage-writing: his depictions of married life. The conversations between husbands and wives here are superb and spot-on. Hilarious. No one does 'old married couples' like Strindberg! For this alone, I am well-rewarded.
Frankly--although I can see why he became so influential--some of his inventiveness is not anything I'd seek out more of. Strindberg was writing in the 1890s - 1910s and there's fascination in that alone: plenty of quirky military officers, wealthy families, landed gentry, & devoted servants in his scenarios--a glimpse of old 'class-riven' Europe.
But the emotions he explores among his tortured characters are shrill, strained, over-febrile. Lurid. Everyone is a little high-strung and feverish in these plays; all-too-ready to break into frenzied speeches; gnash their teeth; tear their hair. It's quite over-wrought. There's a lot of characters extremely worried about 'their honor' and 'their reputation'.
The best play so far is the intriguing 'Dance of Death' which takes place (and this indicates the kind of thing you'll find in Strindberg) in a stone-block tower in a military garrison in an army outpost on a remote island off the coast. Communication with the mainland is via telegraph only. You get the idea.
Where Strindberg excels, though--I must say this in closing--is in one very valuable area of stage-writing: his depictions of married life. The conversations between husbands and wives here are superb and spot-on. Hilarious. No one does 'old married couples' like Strindberg! For this alone, I am well-rewarded.
December 31, 2013
The 5 Stars is mostly for the last three plays, all of which really left an impression on me. The Father is well structured, but at times the characters keep repeating the same thing. Miss Julie is very good, though it does leave you with a sour taste at the end. The Dance of Death is a fantastic character study, and perhaps is my favorite play of those first three more "normal" plays. The last two plays are experimentation in psychology and dab in the surreal. The Dream Play is something I hope to see very soon in the future, as the visual of it would be a wonder, but I was disappointed in how it droned on and hammered the same message. Ghost Sonata was probably the best of all of these plays, as it has a careful structure, and doesn't repeat itself too much.
Overall, highly recommended read.
Overall, highly recommended read.
April 20, 2013
Reading these plays was quite an experience. Overall, I can't say he's exactly my kind of playwright, but I'd love to see these performed. I was surprised to find out that Miss Julie is probably his most famous play (or at least the one that's been made into the most films), because that was my least favorite of the bunch. I came to Strindberg via Ingmar Bergman, and I can definitely see the influence on Bergman (although A Dream Play is basically a Fellini film). I'd like to read more of his later stuff, as he's quite an interesting fellow.
July 13, 2023
I only picked this book because I’m getting ready to visit a Sweden and I saw it on a reading list. It wasn’t even available at my library and had to be specially ordered. I mention this only because I ended up liking the book so much despite my low expectations. The plays, especially the first three, are witty, sarcastic, and ahead of their time. Lots of examination of why women are treated as second-class citizens. Why humans are so ignorant, violent, and miserable. I’d love to see one of his plays performed live.
July 15, 2021
[This review is for A Dream Play]
SLAPS HARD FAM.
If you don't want to read a 2500 year old greek play that I recommend or one of my favorite science books, here's where I can maybe be more useful to you.
Strindberg was a buck-wild boy and he wrote some really good plays.
This one will take you only an afternoon to read.
It's one of the GOAT.
Put it on your list.
SLAPS HARD FAM.
If you don't want to read a 2500 year old greek play that I recommend or one of my favorite science books, here's where I can maybe be more useful to you.
Strindberg was a buck-wild boy and he wrote some really good plays.
This one will take you only an afternoon to read.
It's one of the GOAT.
Put it on your list.
January 21, 2019
To be honest, I only read "The Father," and I didn't like it much. One note. No subplots, just the same conversation over and over. Everything was contrived to make the one point that women will have the last say. So I didn't read the other plays.
July 25, 2018
This rating is only for The Ghost Sonata, which I had to read for uni.
When the semester is over, I will read the other two plays.
When the semester is over, I will read the other two plays.
December 22, 2010
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was an author of extremes. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science. Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period. His plays are what I would characterize as an "acquired taste", but the power of his drama is intense and worth exploring.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science. Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period. His plays are what I would characterize as an "acquired taste", but the power of his drama is intense and worth exploring.
December 24, 2011
One of the more powerful stretches of The Father: “…if [my suspicions] were real, there would be something to take hold of, to grab onto. Now there are only shadows, hiding in bushes and sticking out their heads to laugh. It’s like grappling with thin air, fighting with blank cartridges. A painful truth would have been a challenge, rousing body and soul to action, but now…my thoughts dissolve into mist, and my brain grinds emptiness until it catches fire!”
October 26, 2009
Probably the best single volume collection of Strindberg's more accessible plays, it happily leaves out MISS JULIE and includes both parts of the DANCE OF DEATH. Robust translations, modern enough to be easy to read while still preserving the elegant speech of the time and Strindberg's overall gloomy mood.
May 16, 2010
As classic and essential as Strindberg is, I just cannot make myself like him. I'm more of an Ibsen girl, I suppose. This translation is very good, though, considering the original. As much as I dislike it, I'd still recommend it considering you haven't experienced drama if you haven't experienced good old August Strindberg.
July 24, 2012
I suppose Strindberg is a must read for theater lovers, and Scandinavia-aficionados, but this does not change the fact that he is a troubled, woman-hater with a very strange idea of family. Reading his plays back to back frustrated me ridiculously. Miss Julie is the most frustrating, but in a way echoed throughout literature, with Wuthering Heights' Heathcliff etc.
January 4, 2013
Knocked me off my feet -- psychological and emotionally shockingly powerful -- would love to see them performed. His knife vivisects human interactions keener than Ibsen! And, this was supposedly back in the other century but so germane to us even now, in this current century!
December 5, 2007
check 'em out
October 24, 2024
Based on The Father and Miss Julie.
Read
September 14, 2009Strindberg: Five Plays by August Strindberg (1983)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews