Why does Miss Julie think she has lost her right to command?
By being so sexually aggressive, he suggests, she has lost her right to command Jean as a member of the upper class. Without the dominance afforded by her title, Miss Julie can only define herself based on Jean’s insults, so she agrees that she is “wretched.”
Is a Miss Julie the title character of Miss Julie?
The title character of Miss Julie, Miss Julie is the hot-blooded and unpredictable daughter of the Count, and the mistress of both Jean and Christine. According to August Strindberg in his Preface to Miss Julie, Miss Julie’s demeanor throughout the play, because it is out of step with what would have been proper...
What's queer about Miss Julie?
It's queer about Miss Julie though—to prefer staying here at home among these people, eh, to going away with her father to visit her relatives, eh? KRISTIN. She's probably shamefaced about breaking off with her intended. JEAN. No doubt! but he was a likely sort just the same. Do you know, Kristin, how it happened?
What does Miss Julie represent?
Miss Julie is meant to stand for modern women in general. When Jean tells the story of her broken engagement, he says, "Well, that's a woman for you," which suggests that Julie's behavior is typical of a woman. Miss Julie is a case study of a degenerate woman who supposedly embodies all woman.
What is the ultimate message of Miss Julie?
At its heart, Miss Julie is a play about two people that are struggling to attain and maintain dominance over one another. Julie uses her nobility and sexuality to dominate Jean, driven by what Strindberg, in his preface, identifies as her aggressive sexuality and her desire to control men.
What is the significance of dreams in Strindberg's Miss Julie?
Julie's dreams a metaphor for her social position, and this metaphor recurs in the play. The daughter of a Count, Julie wants to clamber down from her high social standing. Jean tells her of his dream, confessing a yearning to climb up in the world.
What is the age of Miss Julie?
twenty-five-year-oldMiss Julie is the play's twenty-five-year-old heroine.
What is the conflict in Miss Julie?
The ambitions of Jean and Miss Julie conflict as each struggles to gain the upper hand in a destructive relationship and somehow escape their trapped existences.
Who is the protagonist in Miss Julie?
Jean and Julie are both protagonist and antagonist in this story of a young aristocratic man-hating girl who is nevertheless driven to satisfy her uncontrollable sensuality abandoning herself to her father's valet.
Is Miss Julie A tragedy?
Strindberg describes Miss Julie as “a tragic type, continuously fighting a losing battle against nature” (xvii). Her fight against nature is manifested in her struggle against Jean who is the spoNesman for naturalism in the play.
Why is Miss Julie a naturalistic play?
August Strindberg's play Miss Julie can be classified as a naturalistic play because it captures these Darwinian beliefs through the characters of Julie, daughter of a count, and Jean, valet to Julie's father.
Where did Jean see Miss Julie for the first time?
This relationship is neatly summarized by a story in which young Jean had to flee an outhouse through the bottom and, emerging from his master's waste, came upon Julie strolling a terrace and fell in love at first sight.
Where was Miss Julie filmed?
Castle CooleIn a change of setting from the original Sweden of the play, the film was shot at Castle Coole, a late 18th-century country mansion in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
When was Miss Julie performed?
March 14, 1889Miss Julie / First performanceMiss Julie, full-length drama in one act by August Strindberg, published in Swedish as Fröken Julie in 1888 and performed in 1889.
What is Miss Julie movie about?
Over the course of a midsummer night, a baron's frustrated daughter courts scandal and more when she tries to seduce her father's valet.Miss Julie / Film synopsis
What is the movie Miss Julie about?
Over the course of a midsummer night, a baron's frustrated daughter courts scandal and more when she tries to seduce her father's valet.Miss Julie / Film synopsis
What does Jean dream of in Miss Julie?
Jean dreams of grandeur, vaguely imagining someday opening a hotel in northern Italy and becoming a count like Miss Julie's father.
What makes Miss Julie a naturalistic play?
August Strindberg's play Miss Julie can be classified as a naturalistic play because it captures these Darwinian beliefs through the characters of Julie, daughter of a count, and Jean, valet to Julie's father.
What does Julie tell Jean to do when they are drinking together?
What does Julie tell Jean to do when they are drinking together? Kiss her shoe.
What does Jean do to Julie?
Jean seduces Miss Julie and shames her after they make love, ultimately compelling her to commit suicide. In this way, Strindberg uses Julie’s character to argue that such degenerate women are no match for strong, self-possessed, “real” men like Jean.
Why is Miss Julie a half woman?
According to August Strindberg in his Preface to Miss Julie, Miss Julie’s demeanor throughout the play, because it is out of step with what would have been proper and ladylike, makes her a “half-woman.”. He writes, “Miss Julie is a modern character, not because the man-hating half-woman may not have existed in all ages, but because now, ...
What does Jean tell Christine about Miss Julie?
Jean tells Christine that their mistress, the Count’s daughter Miss Julie, is “crazy tonight,” having asked both Jean and the gatekeeper to dance with her in... (full context) Christine explains that Miss Julie has been crazy ever since she ended her engagement with the county attorney. Jean agrees,... (full context)
What compliments does Julie give to Jean?
Miss Julie compliments him in French and he responds in French, which he learned while he was... (full context) Christine has fallen asleep by the stove. Julie remarks that she will make a good wife, and Jean agrees but tells her that... (full context) Julie asks Jean to sit down and have a drink with her.
What does "half woman" mean?
The half-woman is a type coming more and more into prominence, selling herself nowadays for power, decorations, distinctions, diplomas, as formerly for money, and the type indicates degeneration.”. The “degeneration” Strindberg refers to is a product of Miss Julie’s unconventional upbringing. Miss Julie was born to a common mother who married her ...
What do Julie and Jean hear?
Julie and Jean hear two rings of the bell upstairs , signaling that the Count has indeed... (full context) Miss Julie begs Jean to pretend to be the Count and muster the resolve of a nobleman... (full context) Jean whispers orders in Julie’s ear and she thanks him.
What does Julie tell Jean about her servants?
Julie tells Jean that she does not fear her servants, who “love her.”. Jean explains that... (full context) The servants enter and sing and dance around the kitchen before exiting. Jean and Miss Julie re-enter, having consummated their relationship.
What did Strindberg believe about Miss Julie?
Strindberg believed that French playwrights had been unable to achieve naturalism in their writings, and he felt that he could. Miss Julie is not only successful as a naturalistic drama, but it is a play that has achieved the rare distinction of being performed on stages all over the world every year since it was written in 1888.
What does Strindberg describe in the preface of Jean and Miss Julie?
Strindberg describes both Jean and Miss Julie as representations of their classes and society. The people in the play are described by Strindberg as "modern characters living in an age of transition [...] more vacillating and disintegrating than their predecessors, a mixture of the old and the new." The preface to the play may not be the best guide to the play, and is at times in variance with the play itself. The prefaces urges naturalism and deterministic readings of the play, but the play seems to offer more anti-naturalism and even feminist readings. Strindberg's play may have other values than his own critical assessment. In the preface, Strindberg discusses aristocracy and classism beyond what occurs in the play itself.
What is the theme of the play "The Last of a Dying Aristocratic Breed"?
One theme of the play is Darwinism , a theory that was a significant influence on the author during his naturalistic period. This theme is stated explicitly in the preface, where Strindberg describes his two lead characters, Miss Julie and Jean, as vying against each other in an evolutionary "life and death" battle for a survival of the fittest. The character of Miss Julie represents the last of a dying aristocratic breed and serves to characterize women in modernity. Jean represents one who is clambering upwards and who is fitter to thrive because he is more adaptable in terms of the "life roles" he can take on.
What is the genre of Miss Julie?
Genre. Naturalism. Miss Julie ( Swedish: Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of a count in Sweden.
What does Christine tell Miss Julie about God?
Christine explains to Miss Julie about God and forgiveness and heads off for church, telling them as she leaves that she will tell the stablemasters not to let them take out any horses so that they cannot run off. Shortly after, they receive word that Miss Julie's father, the Count, has returned.
What does Miss Julie dream about?
When they return, Miss Julie recounts a dream of climbing up a pillar and being unable to get down. Jean responds with a story of creeping into her walled garden as a child–he sees it as "the Garden of Eden, guarded by angry angels with flaming swords"–and gazing at her longingly from under a pile of stinking weeds.
What is the dog that is impregnated by the gatekeeper's mongrel?
The pungent mixture turns out to be an abortifacient for Miss Julie's dog, which was impregnated by the gatekeeper's mongrel. Jean calls Miss Julie "too stuck-up in some ways and not proud enough in others," traits apparently inherited from her mother.
What does Jean find beautiful about Miss Julie?
Nevertheless, Jean finds Miss Julie beautiful. Miss Julie enters and asks Christine if she has finished the meal. Jean suddenly becomes polite and charming, asking if the women are sharing secrets and inquiring if they are preparing a witches' brew in which to see the face of Miss Julie's future husband.
What does Miss Julie mean in the story?
As Jean's first lines indicate, Miss Julie is "wild," dancing scandalously with the peasants in the barn. Miss Julie is meant to stand for modern women in general. When Jean tells the story of her broken engagement, he says, "Well, that's a woman for you," which suggests that Julie's behavior is typical of a woman.
What is Miss Julie's dream?
Jean introduces Miss Julie as a woman who dreams of dominating men, subjecting them like dogs to her sadistic will. Her fiancé rejects her because of her urges, and she must stay home with the servants in disgrace. The story of the training session is a fantasy of unmanning the unruly heroine.
How old was Julie in the barn dance?
Julie, age twenty-five, led the local barn dance that evening and chose him for the Ladies' waltz. Christine observes that Miss Julie has been especially rambunctious in the wake of her broken engagement. Unable to face her family after this disgrace, Julie has remained on the manor with the servants for the Midsummer Eve festivities.
What is the backdrop of Miss Julie?
Analysis. The backdrop of Miss Julie is Midsummer Eve, a festival of pagan origins celebrated in Northern Europe. A number of critics have related the paganism of the festival to the lust of the protagonists. The pagan festival, a pause in regular provincial life, is an occasion for disguise and deception, the crossing of social boundaries, ...
What does Jean say about Miss Julie?
Jean says Miss Julie is "too stuck-up in some ways and not proud enough in others," just like her mother. The Countess felt comfortable in the kitchen or among the cows, but had to have a pair of driving horses. Her sleeves were filthy, but her buttons were immaculate. Nevertheless, Jean finds Miss Julie beautiful.
Why did Miss Julie's fiancé abandon her?
According to Jean, Miss Julie's fiancé abandoned her after her attempt to train him by making him jump over her riding whip in the barnyard as she beat him . Jean saw the abuse. Jean thinks the man fundamentally good, if not rich. The man ultimately tore the whip from Miss Julie's hands, breaking it into pieces.
What are the two settings in the story of Julie?
The story can be divided by its two settings: the outhouse and the rose terrace. Consciously choosing to address Julie as a servant to a master, Jean attempts to produce pathos with the story of a servant-boy naively enthralled by the incarnation of even his superiors' lowest functions.
What does Miss Julie protest about?
Miss Julie protests, saying at least people of her class do not behave as he does when engaged. Jean tells her that she cannot play the innocent with him. Jean decides to go to bed. Still moved, Julie asks him to take her out to the lake. Again, Jean warns her of the injury to her reputation and urges her to go to bed.
What happened to Jean in the Millstream?
Recalling that it was fatal to sleep under an alder bush, Jean made himself a bed of alder leaves in a bin of oats and climbed inside .
What did Jean see in Julie?
There he caught sight of Miss Julie. Buried under thistles and stinking dirt, Jean watched Julie walk among the roses, wondering why he, a poor boy, could not play with Julie. Miss Julie is moved, wondering sentimentally if all poor children feel as Jean did. With exaggerated pain, Jean affirms her suspicion and continues.
How does the story of the outhouse change Miss Julie?
The story of the outhouse changes Miss Julie from a seductive coquette to a sentimental listener. Jean's reminiscence has all the trappings of a fairy tale (the seven brothers and sisters, the forbidden garden, the bed of alder leaves, the servant who falls in love with his superior at first sight), and it artfully puts Julie under his spell. Strindberg makes it clear that Jean is deceiving Julie. He speaks in an exaggerated tone and lies about the peasants' song. The fairy tale reveals the nature of Jean's desire for Julie. Jean claims he fell in love at first sight, after running through an outhouse. This story simultaneously exalts and degrades Julie. The story can be divided by its two settings: the outhouse and the rose terrace. Consciously choosing to address Julie as a servant to a master, Jean attempts to produce pathos with the story of a servant-boy naively enthralled by the incarnation of even his superiors' lowest functions. The spatial metaphor suggests class differences. Forced to flee through the bottom of the outhouse, Jean is mired in the filth of his masters. Whether Jean offers this anecdote ironically, as an insult to Julie, is unclear. Indeed, Jean's trip through the bottom of the outhouse suggests that Miss Julie is as interested in degrading the figure of servant as it is in degrading the figure of the woman.
What is the story of Jean and Miss Julie?
Summary. Jean recounts a childhood memory of Miss Julie. He begins by asking rhetorically if Miss Julie knows what the world looks like from below. Jean grew up with seven siblings on a wasteland, with the Count's garden and apple trees, like a Garden of Eden, visible from their window. He confesses that he and the other boys found a way to ...
Why can't Jean enter the Count's forbidden garden?
Jean wonders why he cannot enter the Count's forbidden garden at the very moment when he sees the young Julie. The implication is that the way into the manor, the way up in the world, is between Julie's legs. The peasants' ballet is another break in the primary action of the play.
Overview
Plot
The play opens with Jean walking on the stage, the set being the kitchen of the manor. He drops the Count's boots off to the side but still within view of the audience; his clothing shows that he is a valet. Jean talks to Christine about Miss Julie's peculiar behavior. He considers her mad since she went to the barn dance, danced with the gamekeeper, and tried to waltz with Jean, a mere servant of the Count. Christine delves into the background of Miss Julie, stating how, unable to f…
Themes
One theme of the play is Darwinism, a theory that was a significant influence on the author during his naturalistic period. This theme is stated explicitly in the preface, where Strindberg describes his two lead characters, Miss Julie and Jean, as vying against each other in an evolutionary "life and death" battle for a survival of the fittest. The character of Miss Julie represents the last of a dying aristocratic breed and serves to characterize women in modernity. Jean represents one wh…
The author's preface
Miss Julie is preceded by an author's preface, which is considered a significant manifesto of naturalism in the theatre. In it Strindberg states that the source of the play is an actual story he once heard, which made a strong impression on him, and which "seemed appropriate for tragedy, for it still seems tragic to see someone favored by fortune go under, much more to see a family die out."
Naturalism
Strindberg wrote this play with the intention of abiding by the theories of "naturalism"–both his own version, and also the version described by the French novelist and literary theoretician Émile Zola. Zola's term for naturalism is la nouvelle formule. The three primary principles of naturalism (faire vrai, faire grand and faire simple) are:
1. Faire vrai: The play should be realistic and the result of a careful study of human behavior and …
Origins of the play
The play was written as Strindberg was creating a new theatre of his own, the Scandinavian Naturalistic Theater, which would be founded in Copenhagen. Miss Julie would be the premier offering. Strindberg's wife, Siri von Essen, would star in the title role, and she would also be the artistic director. After Strindberg agreed to a small amount of censorship, the play was published a few weeks b…
Characters
Miss Julie: Strong-willed daughter of the Count who owns the estate. Raised by her late mother to "think like and act like a man," she is a confused individual: she is aware of the power she holds, but switches between being above the servants and flirting with Jean, her father's manservant. She longs to fall from her pillar, an expression symbolically put across as a recurring dream she has.
Performances and adaptations
The work is widely known for its many adaptations.
• In 1912, Anna Hofman-Uddgren directed a film version, based on her own and Gustaf Uddgren's screenplay; Manda Björling played Julie and August Falck played Jean (based in turn on the stage production in Stockholm in 1906).
• In 1913 with the title Countess Julia, it was directed by Mary Shaw on Broadway at …