The Father: Analysis of Setting
"The Father" is a play by August Strindberg that explores the dynamics of domestic life, particularly through the setting of the captain's home, which serves as a critical backdrop for the drama. The setting is described as a sitting room that doubles as the captain's office, featuring elements like guns and game bags, indicative of his identity as a military man. However, this space is not a private sanctuary; rather, it is open and accessible, with three doors connecting it to the rest of the house, symbolizing the intrusion of family life into the captain's personal domain. The presence of the captain's wife, daughter, and mother-in-law, who enter without knocking, highlights the lack of privacy and control he experiences. This environment is portrayed as constraining, with the captain likened to a prisoner in his own home, suggesting a critique of traditional gender roles and the power dynamics within marriage. As the play progresses, the repetition of this setting reinforces the monotony and entrapment felt by the captain, aligning with Strindberg's themes of male vulnerability amid domestic pressures. The portrayal invites audiences to consider the complexities of family relationships and the societal expectations placed upon individuals within those structures.
The Father: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1887 as Fadren (English translation, 1899)
First produced: 1887
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of work: Mid-nineteenth century
Places Discussed
Captain’s house
Captain’s house. Home of a Swedish cavalry officer and amateur scientist. The stage directions at the beginning of act 1 indicate that the captain tries to use the sitting room as his office or private study. He has his guns and gamebags hanging on the wall and uniform coats hanging on clothes-pegs by the door. However, the fact that the room is not his private domain is immediately suggested by the presence of a large round table strewn with newspapers and magazines and, more especially, by the fact that three doors give access to other parts of the ground floor. The stage directions call for a door in the background to the right, a private door in the right-hand corner, and a door to the inner rooms to the left.
The women obviously do not regard the captain’s sitting room as a private inner sanctum. The captain’s wife, his daughter Bertha, and the nurse all enter without knocking. The captain is also within earshot of female squabbling, including the screams of his deranged mother-in-law, through the door leading to the inner rooms. As the curtain rises on act 2, and then again on act 3, the viewer sees exactly the same setting, and this reinforces the impressions of the monotony of the captain’s domestic life and the fact that he is a helpless prisoner in his own home. As the pastor says in act 1, “There are too many women here governing the house,” to which the captain replies, “Yes, aren’t there? It is like going into a cage full of tigers.” Strindberg’s choice of the place for his drama helps to emphasize his misogynistic message that the captain, like many other married men, is a victim. He is like a prisoner or like a soldier desperately holding out in a last crumbling redoubt. He has no privacy or peace of mind even in his own home.
Bibliography
Brustein, Robert. “Male and Female in August Strindberg.” In Modern Drama: Essays in Criticism, edited by Travis Bogard. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965. Focuses on Strindberg’s paradoxical view of masculine and feminine as reflected in several of his major plays, including The Father. Discusses Strindberg’s early misogynist views and his recurring fascination with the so-called war between the sexes. Explanatory notes.
Dahlstrom, Carl E. W. L. “Strindberg’s The Father as Tragedy.” Scandinavian Studies 27, no. 2 (May, 1955): 45-63. Discusses the classical form and structure of both Greek and Shakespearean tragedy. Contends that The Father might not be a tragedy in the classical sense, but that it is a revolt against the mechanistic perspective and therefore, might be the only type of tragedy possible in a mechanistic universe.
Lagercrantz, Olof. August Strindberg. Translated by Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984. Discusses relevant biographical information concerning many of Strindberg’s major plays, including The Father. Useful in understanding and interpreting Strindberg’s work, which many critics assert is largely autobiographical.
Lyons, Charles R. “The Archetypal Action of Male Submission in Strindberg’s The Father.” Scandinavian Studies 36, no. 3 (August, 1964): 218-232. Asserts that the model(s) for male submission within The Father might be found in such ancient myths as those of Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah.
Valency, Maurice. The Flower and the Castle: An Introduction to Modern Drama. New York: Macmillan, 1963. A comprehensive discussion of Strindberg’s major plays and his contribution to modern theater. Subject index and selected bibliography.