Miss Julie and Its Preface: The Foundation of a Critical Conflict Essay

From its first publication and performance, August Strindbergs play Miss Julie has been the source of critical controversy and debate. Written in the cut through of little more than one month in the summer of 1888, the play was banned or censored throughout Europe in the late ordinal Century. Because it dealt with situations and attitudes deemed morally or socially offensive (the daughter of an aristocrat seduces her fathers valet, and he, in turn, coerces her to commit suicide) the initial negative reaction to the play was rooted in generalized, fanatical, ego righteous outrage and did not seek to deal with or engage the text in any specific manner. Instead, Miss Julie was a convenient target, characteristic of all that was corrupting and dangerous in an increasingly progressive world. By the early Twentieth Century, however, more focused moral and artistic critiques were leveled at Strindbergs self-importance proclaimed naturalistic tragedy, a discussion that continues to thr ive compensate today. Though some of the moral and social issues may have lost their radical move on in later decades, there is still an ongoing, lively, and deeply divided debate. This is not to suggest that these modern critical concerns have forged superior or even different links with the past or to this piece of literature. On the contrary, I would submit that Strindberg himself, as a literary critic of his own work, established (consciously or unconsciously) the fundamental guidelines and ground rules for the interpretive controversies that have followed. By creating a dynamic tension between his theoretical, essentially pragmatic intentions in his Preface to Miss Julie and his productive achievements in Miss Julie itself, Strindbergs e... ...wledge our inquiry provides centers around the critical orientation of each voice sounded in the debate. Works Cited Henderson Archibald. European Dramatists. Cincinnati Stewart and Kidd Co., 1913. Heller, Otto. Prophets of Disse nt. Port Washington, NY Kennikat Press, 1918. Sprinchorn, Evert. Strindberg as Dramatist. New harbour Yale UP, 1982. Strindberg, August. Preface to Miss Julie. Michael Meyer trans., 1888. Rpt. in Strindberg Plays One. Michael Meyer trans. Reading, UK Cox and Wyman Ltd., 1993. ---. Miss Julie. Michael Meyer trans., 1888. Rpt. in Strindberg Plays One. Michael Meyer trans. Reading, UK Cox and Wyman Ltd., 1993. Tornqvist, Egil and Jacobs, Barry. Strindbergs Miss Julie A Play and Its Transpositions. Norwich Norvik, 1988. Williams, Raymond. Drama From Ibsen to Brecht. New York Oxford UP, 1968.