Psychology of The Author
Strindberg wrote it following a near-psychotic episode. During that time, he came to be extremely disturbed, thinking witches were attempting to murder him. He later wrote a memoir about this period of his life. Eventually, though, he recovered, thanks to his mother-in-law.
Previously, Strindberg had seen himself as a martyr, constantly persecuted by women. This affected his view of the overall relationship between the sexes, and of course his writing. He finally realized that he was playing a part in his failed relationships after his third marriage (to Harriet Bosse) collapsed. Bosse was behind the main character of A Dream Play.
The play, called by Strindberg "the child of my greatest pain," reflects the author's observation that life is an illusion, similar to a dream.
Read more about this topic: A Dream Play
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