The Father (Strindberg) - Production Background

Production Background

Because of blasphemous comments about Jesus Christ, Strindberg found it hard for his work to be published and produced in Sweden. Therefore, the play was the first Strindberg play to be produced outside of Scandinavia, in Berlin in 1890. The Father marked a turning point for Strindberg, as he went to a style of writing he deemed "artistic-psychological writing" (Oxford World's Classics ix). The Father was yet another example of the ongoing discussion in the Scandinavian theater surrounding women's rights, marriage and sexual morality (all topics seen in the work of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen). Strindberg did not refer to his work as a work of naturalism; he strived to make literature as objective as possible, and did not want his characters to require long, detailed back stories like in the naturalist dramas of Ibsen. Instead, he preferred simple professions (The Doctor, The Pastor, The Nurse) and charactonyms (Nöjd, Svärd) to give all the necessary information in terms of character (Oxford ix). Strindberg found naturalism to be a factor of great confrontation, and not mundanity. The play is largely symbolic, as the characters in The Father are symbols of masculine heroism vs. feminine deceit. There is almost a Darwinian struggle between these two principles, as Darwin's theory is referenced in the play.