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THE WORLDS OF AUGUST STRINDBERG


THE WORLDS OF AUGUST STRINDBERG


Front cover: August Strindberg, c. 1890. Photo: Augusta Kindahl, Stockholm. (Privately owned.) Back cover: Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, c. 1890. Photo: Moyse Léon and Georges Lévy. (IBL Bildbyrå/Roger-Viollet.) This translation was made possible through the generous support of the Swedish Academy, the Swedish Arts Council and the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation. © Bokförlaget Max Ström 2012 © Text Björn Meidal Picture editor Bengt Wanselius English translation Sarah Death Design Patric Leo Layout Petra Ahston Inkapööl Fact-checking Per Stam Repro Linjepunkt, Falun Printed by Graphicom, Verona, Italy, 2012 ISBN 978-91-7126-248-6 Bokförlaget Max Ström Kyrkslingan 11, Skeppsholmen S-111 49 Stockholm Sweden www.maxstrom.se


THE WORLDS OF AUGUST STRINDBERG

BJÖRN MEIDAL

BENGT WANSELIUS

TRANSLATION BY SARAH DEATH

BOKFÖRLAGET MAX STRÖM


CONTENTS FOREWORD 7 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 11 STUDENT, LITERARY DEBUT 37

GERMANY – DENMARK 193

AUSTRIA – LUND – PARIS 341

The Natives of Hemsö 196

Lund 347

Refined and Educated Denmark 203

Back in Paris 353

A Peripatetic Life 203

Back in Lund 365

‘Shame My Finances Are So Bad That I Can’t Achieve What I Want’ 206

The Student 37 The Letter Writer 43 The Playwright 46

Skovlyst 212

First Attempt at Novel Writing 66 Journalist, Earning a Crust 67 Royal Secretary 67

HARRIET BOSSE 387

Miss Julie 213 Creditors 217

AUTHOR 59

HOME FOR GOOD 379

A Madman’s Manifesto 207

Writing ‘Bad’ Books to Make Money to Write ‘Good’ Ones 219 Don’t Touch Him. This Is Strindberg, Sweden’s Greatest Writer! 220

The Sinologist 70

Scandinavian Experimental Theatre 220

Siri von Essen 72

‘I Kiss Your Big Hands from a Distance’ –

BREAKTHROUGH 83

Nietzsche and Poe 225

Nathalia Larsen 224

A Wide Variety of Plays 392 The Red House 402 Honeymoon and Educational Trip 406 Historical Drama and Dreamplay 409 Crisis, Exorcism, Self-Therapy 415 Continuing Renewal 423

THE INTIMATE THEATRE 431 The Chamber Plays 438 The Director 452

The Red Room – the Breakthrough 87 Old Stockholm 93

SWEDEN AGAIN 231

Studies in Cultural History 97

Unproductive Winter 231

The Swedish People 98

By the Open Sea 233

Sixtieth Birthday 464

Historical Drama and Fairytale Play 102

Cultural History and Natural Science 234

Fanny Falkner – His ‘Last Love’ 465

The New State 108

Swedish Landscapes – Travels 238

Anne-Marie 466

The Anti-Semite 111

Agonising Divorce 243

‘The Hermit of the Blue Tower’ 466

Poems in Verse and Prose 114

Sexual Attraction on Dalarö 251

From Dialogue to Monologue 467

Society Life in Djursholm 254

Linguistic Speculation 469

EXILE 119

Marstrand and a Fairytale Play 255

The Photographer 469

The Scatological Studies of a Writer of Filth 122

New One-Acters 259

The Strindberg Feud 470

Paris 126

Playing With Fire and the Bond 259

The National Collection 481 Greta, Karin and Hans 483

His Own Agent 127 Social Criticism and More Poetry 127

BERLIN – LONDON – DORNACH 269

Switzerland 130

Metropolitan Berlin 274

Character Assassination in Italy 132

Zum schwarzen Ferkel 275

Getting Married I 135

Frida Uhl 279

Prosecution 143

Dagny Juel 280

Utopias 144

Intimations of Inferno 286

More Moves 148

A Heligoland Wedding: Comedy, Tragedy and a

The Peace Campaigner 148 Swedishness and the Concept of Europe 152

THE BLUE TOWER 457

The Swedishness Controversy 486 The Final Birthday 489 Death and Funeral 489

LIFE AND WORK 497 BIBLIOGRAPHY 499

Distracted Groom 288 England, Island of Women 294

INDEX 501

Penniless in Hamburg, Cholera and Sulphurous

FRANCE – SWITZERLAND 157

Fumes on Rügen 298

Absolute(?) Misogynist 160

Reunion in Brünn 300

Letters from Stockholm 161

Family Life on the Danube 303

WORKS OF STRINDBERG

Verner von Heidenstam and the Fastidiousness Feud 162

PARIS 311

Among French Peasants 166

Rest and Chemistry 329

The Marriage 177

Paris 331

Autobiography and Autobiographies 182 He and She 186 18 Impressionist Photographs 186

SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHERS 505

REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK 507 PICTURE SOURCES 509



FOREWORD

‘Have I not said enough farewells? Was not my whole life a thorny path of farewells? Coaching inns, steamboat jetties, railway stations with a flutter of tear-stained handkerchiefs?’ sighs the Unknown in the play To Damascus. Strindberg’s worlds are many and varied. With his wife and two children, he left Sweden in 1883, subsequently spending almost half his professional life abroad. Even back in his own country, he was constantly on the move. All his post-horse stops, rented rooms, boarding houses, villages, metropolises and countries were never merely physical spaces, but refashioned into significant images and symbols to meet the need of the moment, as is the author’s right. Nor were his domains limited to the geographical map: ideologies were used and discarded at the same pace as addresses. He worked, and tried to earn a living, in a wide variety of fields: he was a teacher, tutor, theatrical extra, journalist, social critic, librarian, academic, alchemist, painter, photographer, a founder of theatres, and an author. The domestic sphere, where he was a husband and father, was a world all of its own. Following his inferno crisis in the 1890s, his gaze was directed towards other regions, not of this world. The photographs in this book are of Strindberg’s time and show places he was fond of and others that he came to hate, along with people who were drawn into his circle for a brief period before being expelled from it. Quite a number of the pictures are portraits of the writer. In the earliest of them, he is a serious fourteen-year-old, apparently as well dressed as he is well adjusted. In what may be the last picture, he has turned away from the photographer and viewer, and can hardly be made out against the dazzling light. This world – August Strindberg – was the one that interested him most of all. No one has portrayed Strindberg better than he himself has done. His autobiographical writings, however, show signs of having been worked over, ensuring everything is seen from the point of view he held at the time of writing. Some years ago I had the privilege of completing the major, definitive edition of Strindberg’s letters. In more than 10,000 surviving letters I could follow his life day by day. The letters are not reliable sources, either, but always contain snapshots, points at which he takes his bearings, and reactions to the urgent demands of the present moment. I have done my best to write without the benefit of hindsight and to take seriously his anxious, surprised questions: ‘Where am I?’, ‘How did I get here?’, ‘Who have I become now?’ and ‘What shall I do?’ Stockholm, February 2012 Björn Meidal


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CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

In the summer of 1857, when Strindberg was eight, he added a few words of greeting to a letter home to his parents: ‘And the same good wishes to Mother and Father from their own August.’ He was staying with his elder brothers, Oscar and Axel, two and four years his senior, at ‘klockargården’, the home of a church organist in Ardala in the province of Sörmland. His brother had written: ‘I hope you are keeping well, Mother and Father! Your Oscar.’ The eight-year-old’s unassuming postscript is the oldest piece of Strindberg’s writing that has been preserved. His twelve-year-old brother Axel dutifully reported home to their parents: ‘August studies his books every day, so he will be sure to be in the top class.’ The three brothers had been sent to board for the summer in Ardala to catch up on their studies, benefit from some fresh air and bathing, and practise their music. Their younger siblings, the two-year-olds Olle and Anna, had stayed at home in Stockholm at Loviseberg, the rented, nine-room villa at 25 Stora Gråbergsgatan, west of the Stockholm Observatory. Another sister, Elisabeth, was born that year. There were to be a succession of stays at the organist’s. Their father, after all, had daily dealings with steamboats, with such reassuringly solid names as Gripen, Hermoder and Thorshälla, and we can surmise that the trips cost very little. Strindberg chose the ‘rosy red steamer’ Hermoder to take the eponymous romantic organist of Rånö, Alrik Lundstedt, on his journey in one of the short stories in Skärkarlsliv (Life in the Skerries). The story’s depiction of the quayside at Riddarholm is affectionate, full of colour and detail; the berths are crammed with ‘steamboats in all the colours of the rainbow, sea green with vermilion gangways, gleaming with polished brass, and white ironwork, black funnels and copper-red steam pipes, old Gripen and Kommendörkapten, long, slim, Aros with bow and rudder at both ends, Prince Gustaf and Upland, and way over by the Swimming Baths little Tessin’. And in Strindberg’s chamber play Pelikanen (The Pelican), the poor sister and brother who set fire to their home, thus killing their father, have memories of a similar kind: ‘[D]o you remember when we went down to the white steamers and patted them, when they were freshly painted and waiting for us; Father was happy then, and alive[…].’ Another document that has survived is thought to be Strindberg’s first full letter, written in a neat hand in the summer of 1858, when he was nine. The Swedish orthography is a little unorthodox, and the letter reads:

August Strindberg, 1862. Pencil drawing by his elder brother Axel. Opposite page: August Strindberg at the age of fourteen. The earliest known photograph of the author, taken by F.A. Reinhold. Previous page: Stockholm, view from Mosebacke in 1846. Daguerreotype. Skeppsbron is to the left. In the background Ladugårdslandet, where Östermalm was built in the late nineteenth century. Skeppsholmen Island is to the right.

Dear Papa and Mama! This is just to tell you that I am in good health, and to send my very best wishes to all at home. We have been out together a few times and once we all rode on a haywain – One day we went out to pick nuts – It is very warm here in the daytime and the farmers’ men must make their corn stooks quickly. Keep well, dear Papa and Mama! And sometimes remember Your August

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STUDENT, LITERARY DEBUT

It was time for the nineteen-year-old August Strindberg to embark on life’s journey. With eighty riksdaler in his wallet, earned by his own hand, and a collection of cooking pots carefully stowed in his baggage by faithful old servant Margret, he took the steamboat that forged its way via Lake Mälaren and a succession of narrow navigation channels, finally following the River Fyris up to Uppsala, the seat of learning. Uppsala boasted the country’s oldest university, founded in 1477. When Strindberg arrived, it was a city of 11,000 inhabitants, thirty-four permanent professors and eighteen assistant professors. In 1851 there were a thousand students; by 1909 that total had doubled. In 1870 the university also opened its doors to female students, but none of them were ever to feature in any story of Strindberg’s.

Opposite page: Strindberg, aged 21 (1870). Photographer: Math:s Hansen, Stockholm. Next page: Uppsala, the River Fyris and Östra Ågatan.

the student Dramatic world events were beyond the range of vision of Strindberg’s student years. The student body’s earlier involvement in them at a pan-Scandinavian level had ceased abruptly after the Austro-Prussian defeat of Denmark in 1864. There was no discernible interest as the Suez Canal opened in 1869, France and Germany fought the war of 1870–71, Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor at the palace of Versailles, Bismarck was elected Chancellor, the socialist Paris Commune was bloodily crushed, and Italy was unified in 1871. Nor did less shocking events closer to home make any impact: not the work of the new bicameral parliament from 1867 onwards, nor the toxic defence question, nor the formation of the new liberal party. From the perspective of the Uppsala students, at least as we see it through Strindberg’s eyes, the world was extremely small, comprising mainly his own ego and his immediate surroundings. In his subsequent accounts of life in Uppsala, Strindberg paints quite a negative picture. His autobiographical Tjänstekvinnans son (The Son of a Servant) stresses the class aspect, with the lower classes finding it hard to hold their own. All the professors were – somewhat paradoxically – ‘yokels’, the town ‘smelt like some rural corner’ and there was not a single ‘eminent teacher to stand head and shoulders above the crowd’. Some were ‘seedy old tipplers’, others ‘untested dilettantes who had got on thanks to their wives or minor accomplishments’. The university was no advanced seat of learning or home of unlimited opportunities for research, but a mere ‘examination crammer’. What was more, the scenery was awful, a dismal landscape of ‘endless muddy fields’, and he missed his home in Stockholm. His first term ‘crawled forward unbearably slowly, inducing lethargy and leading nowhere’. Student life was characterised by loneliness, poverty and lack of meaning. But in letters written at the time, and in the testimony of friends, a different picture emerges. At the end of his first week, he reported home to his father as an obedient, responsible son. The great advantage of student life was the freedom,

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The cover of From Fjärdingen to Svartbäcken (1877), Strindberg’s stories of student life in Uppsala. The Gustavianum in the 1860s, when it was the main building of Uppsala University. Photographer: Henri Osti, Uppsala/ Stockholm.

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though he was careful to stress that this was not ‘synonymous with the unleashing of all desires and passions, but a freedom that is always subordinate to the laws of all that is right and moral’. But in correspondence with his cousin Johan Oscar Strindberg, in whom he often confided at the time, he sings the praises of freedom in less guarded terms: ‘We live like gods here. Absolute freedom!’ ‘There is something about this Uppsala life that appeals to me – no selfishness – fraternal sympathy and true friendship – no prudery – no one here is embarrassed by crossing the street with bottles in their pockets and loaves of bread in their hands.’ He simultaneously reported to his brother Oscar that although student life was no bed of roses, it was certainly ‘so rich in poetry, the primary element of a young man’s soul, that one thinks oneself happy even when there is little prospect of bread the next day’. Letters from this time, and the statements of friends, also support the view that Strindberg the new student did not, unlike so many of the anti-heroes he was to portray in the Uppsala-inspired stories collected in Från Fjärdingen till Svartbäcken (From Fjärdingen to Svartbäcken), devote himself full-time to punch and backgammon or skittles. In one of his first letters home to the family, he claimed that his ‘primary pleasure’ and ‘only ambition’ was to ‘acquire as much knowledge as possible’. He was diligent in his studies, attests one friend of his youth, and another agrees. ‘He was a good student. An obsessive reader.’ It is quite another matter, of course, whether all this time was devoted to set books or reading of other kinds. Strindberg’s fellow students also claim he was very moderate in his drinking when they were out together, which does not preclude his being susceptible to ‘the poetrydrenched juices of the fiery grape’ and ‘the brutal fumes of simple schnapps’; and in


letters he sometimes writes that he has been ‘the Beast’, his euphemism for a copious intake of alcohol. His love life seems to have been typical of the period, comprising platonic infatuation at a distance with his cousin Maria or one of the inaccessible girls lodging in the same house, and physical intimacy closer to hand, with café girls and prostitutes: ‘now admittedly I am treated to many a hard and hot embrace – but they all evaporate as the intoxication fades – leaving behind only a few prints of punch-stained hands on my overcoat!’ He subsequently maintained a two-year relationship at the Stallmästaregården Inn in Stockholm. ‘She granted every boon but the last.’ The most striking aspect of the young student is that much of what characterised the adult Strindberg appears already surprisingly fully developed at this stage: the impatience; the rapid mood swings, from triumph to despair and threat of suicide; diffidence and reserve that did not preclude the flouting of authority and an intense need to be seen and heard; money worries, shaky financial affairs, the many loans and the ready supply of willing patrons. In his life, Strindberg would always have need not only of helpful ‘assistants’ but also of a smaller forum, where there was little risk of his own right to hold court being called into question. Examples of such courts at various stages of his life were ‘The Club’ in the years just after 1880, the Zum schwarzen Ferkel Inn in Berlin at the start of the 1890s, and the meetings of the Old Beethovians in his last home, the Blue Tower. But even in Uppsala he was able to create a grouping of that kind, the Rune Society. All the members took Old Norse names; Strindberg’s was the fateful and challenging ‘Frö’, (Frey), after the god of fertility and procreation. Many of first fruits of his literary labours were read there and exposed to comradely scrutiny. Strindberg’s fellow students testify to his already being equipped, despite his shyness, with ‘a mania for disrespect of all that is customarily respected’. This lack of respect could, for example, land mercilessly on a national poet like Esaias Tegnér, or almost lead to a scuffle with an elderly professor when Strindberg, arms folded, defiantly declared that Dante was overrated. In September 1870, Strindberg wrote that his mood was still ‘damned good – plugging away hard at my studies and thinking of taking my degree soon’, but added: ‘Unless I kill myself first’. This was perhaps the first time the threat of suicide featured in the letters. It was a theme on which he often embroidered in this phase of his life, with literary allusions to Hamlet’s soliloquy on suicide, or more concrete references to bottles of poison strategically placed on his desk; from that point on, it was a constantly recurring motif. All the changes of address were also ominous. He had been accustomed to frequent house moves ever since childhood. Student accommodation was not always of high quality. He was frequently very cold, and there were times when he had to hang up his inkpots to catch the rain leaking through the roof. Sometimes he even sought overnight refuge with friends. No wonder many of these rooms are described as having a ‘magnificently suicidal atmosphere’. The constant changes of domicile were

Strindberg’s lodgings, an attic room in Järnbrogatan, Uppsala, autumn 1871. The building is no longer standing. This was a time when Strindberg moved house six times in three weeks. ‘It was a hovel with a camp bed and no sheets or pillowcases. No candlestick, nothing. He lay in bed in his underwear, reading by the light of a candle stuck in a half-bottle. His friends brought him food from time to time. He went out when darkness fell and borrowed enough wood for a fire, bringing it home in his overnight bag. […] There was also a chimney wall running up through the room, and that was warm every Thursday, when they did the laundry. He would stand against it with his hands behind his back and prop the book he was reading on the chest of drawers he had dragged out.’ (The Son of a Servant.)

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The ‘drinking table’ at Kymmendö. Drawing by Strindberg. Outside 11 Järnbrogatan, Uppsala, where Strindberg was lodging, sometime in the autumn of 1871.

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useful preliminary exercises for a life on the move: ‘I congratulate myself on having grown out of such childishness as the inability to read or be at ease without my desk, my inkpot and my pipe’. Soon, however, he began to feel much less pleased with life. Where Stockholm had provided ‘the cheerful abodes of art’, Uppsala had nothing to offer but ‘the dark recesses of learning’. He always delighted in thesis and antithesis, but was never as willing to see synthesis. As he became less of a student and more of a writer, so he came to view the seat of learning in an increasingly dismal light: ‘In this city they worship the owl – the great horned owl of darkness – they cannot stand the sound of songbirds.’ Conflicts were many and various: the fact that he (the only one of all the brothers) was studying at all, going against the authority of his father – now consistently and disrespectfully referred to as ‘the old man’; his failure to find the money to fund his studies; the fact that he was not studying diligently enough, and stealing time from his studies to devote himself to literary pursuits; his writing itself. It was all done out of bravado and defiance, but not without pangs of conscience. The result was many interruptions to his studies, mostly arising from lack of funds. January 1868 found Strindberg already back in Stockholm, where he stood in as an elementary-school teacher and was engaged as a tutor in the families of two doctors. He was studying medicine at the same time, but dropped his studies after failing a chemistry examination in the spring of 1869. The tone of his reaction to this failure in his autobiography is all hindsight and self-justification: ‘Poring over so much redundant material that would only be forgotten and never serve any practical purpose. And slaving away for so long just to get into such a squalid profession. Analysing urine samples, poking about in vomit, digging into all the recesses of the body, how damned revolting.’ His none too pious wish to ‘set fire to that hellhole’, on the other hand, is said to have been common knowledge. That autumn brought yet another setback when he failed to be hired as an actor at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. He made his debut, if that is the word for it, with a very minor walk-on part and a single line in Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s Maria Stuart: ‘The lords have sent a negotiator with a challenge to Earl Bothwell.’ Following yet more clashes with his father, he moved back to Uppsala, where he remained until March 1872, when he broke with the place for good. ‘August finished at Upsala’ reads the curt, or perhaps resigned, entry in his father’s diary. In the summer of 1871 Strindberg discovered an auspicious alternative to Uppsala, ‘city of dead letters and examination cramming’ and to the Stockholm family home, where things grew ‘daily worse’ and more conflict with his father loomed. This alternative was the little island of Kymmendö, off Dalarö, in the Stockholm archipelago. We know little about this summer visit beyond the fact that Strindberg studied hard and


wrote eloquent begging letters that he fired off in various directions in the hope of being able to continue his studies. But he had made his discovery, and would soon return to the island, in life, in fiction and in his imagination. Two classmates from Strindberg’s upper-secondary school days supported him anonymously to allow him to complete his studies. He never sat final examinations to gain a formal degree, but he successfully passed exams in Latin style, Aesthetics, History of Art and Literature, New European Linguistics (French, German, English and Italian) and Political Science. the letter writer The Uppsala years also saw the birth of Strindberg the letter writer. The shyness to which his schoolmates and fellow students bore witness was easily overcome when he found himself with pen and paper before him. The letters sometimes served as laboratories, where he thought aloud and tested ideas, for his life and for his writing. In the letters we always hear the voice of a strong will and the motivation to reach a goal, be it to raise money, complete some task, persuade a publisher or theatre director. Before long, the winning of women would also be an important component. But from the very outset there were overtures in that direction. To a young woman in his family’s circle of acquaintances, he sighed: ‘I deplore the oppressed position of women, which does not permit them access to higher interests in life and the quest for truth.’ One of the letters to his cousin Oscar serves as a useful illustration. In it, Strindberg copies out a somewhat conventional spring poem in rhyming verse that he has written: ‘Hear the storm from the south, and the might of its roar/ And the weather vanes shake on the fortress of Vasa’, etcetera. But the depiction of springtime in Uppsala in the letter itself is considerably more interesting, bringing nature, culture, people and animals together in shared delight. There is an entirely different tempo here: ‘The snow is melting – the Fyris is rushing – the jackdaws start their screeching round the Cathedral spires – the wind brings down wood from the trees – singing echoes through streets and lanes – the young people romp.’ Strindberg the letter writer is still a greater poet than Strindberg the would-be poet. This is followed by a description, packed with information, of the letter writer’s daily life, with a liberal number of dashes replacing more heavy-footed traditional punctuation. Freedom and camaraderie are at the heart of everything, and life is glorious, though money is short. The privations are portrayed in a style soon to become standard for Strindberg, a mixture of irony, humour and stoicism that could hardly fail to move the recipient: ‘that devilish cold which made such inroads into my scanty stock of firewood and forced me by night to don white trousers – student cap and socks, with my whole (!) wardrobe on top of the counterpane to prevent my vital parts from freezing!’ The letter then delivers some striking choices of phrase as it shifts rapidly into accounts of Strindberg’s literary prowess,

Dr Axel Lamm, whose two sons Strindberg tutored from the autumn of 1868 until the start of 1870, while he was studying medicine. Photographer: M. Larsson, Stockholm. ‘It was with the homeless, the Israelites, that he made his new home. He immediately sensed a new atmosphere. No reminders of Christianity or torment, to him or anyone else. No grace said at table, no churchgoing, no catechism.’ (The Son of a Servant.)

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AUTHOR

In Stockholm, Strindberg rented a single room at 7 Grev Magnigatan, in those days still on the edge of town. He rented it from a police constable, the only person of any rank at that address. He took walks in the green spaces of Djurgården, and engaged in intensive socialising with other authors, journalists and artists in the famous ‘Red Room’ at the restaurant and music hall Berns. Many, however, thought ‘madness’ must have descended on him to make him abandon his studies. He considered himself to have embarked on a new life and felt he had reached a turning point. Now twentythree, he wrote that on such occasions: ‘I always withdraw into myself and forget the past’. The turning points in his life, be they personal, ideological or professional, were to be many, and almost always underlined by a change of lodgings, city or country. Now he was to try to live by his pen, primarily by writing articles for newspapers and magazines. The extent to which politics and social problems were beginning to attract him is very evident. The journalism of the capital city seemed relevant and topical, while academic Uppsala felt like something out of prehistory. A brace of debate articles followed his studies in Uppsala like some kind of afterbirth: ‘Why has the capital no university of its own yet?’ and ‘Latin – or Swedish?’ The question marks were provocatively rhetorical. He also drew comparisons between the conditions of the students and those of the workers, informed by his own experience. On the one hand, it was not necessarily the students who were better off; on the other, physical work must be duly respected. That was the only way to achieve reconciliation, ‘and the workers shall no longer be the rabble, and they on their part shall toss aside all the hatred and jealousy they feel for the others’. But such articles, he claimed, were basically ‘rubbish’ and just a way of earning some money – loan sharks and pawnbrokers played a major role in his life at this time, and his pocket watch was often out on its travels – so he had the funds to make his big move, writing the piece with which he planned to qualify for proper apprenticeship to the profession of playwright. He had decided not to give ‘a damn about getting a single farthing of the 6,000 the state awards to authors’. An old system for authors, built on grants, many of them made or administered by the Swedish Academy, coexisted with an increasingly lively press and enterprising publishers on their way to losing their importance, but still naturally attractive. The ‘qualifying work’, for which Strindberg had begun collecting large amounts of historical material when he was in Uppsala, was the play Mäster Olof (Master Olof). In the summer of 1872, which was again spent with three student friends from Uppsala in the inspirational setting of the island of Kymmendö, he completed it in a ‘brandnew, up-to-date style’. At its centre, as in Fritänkaren (The Free Thinker) and I Rom (In Rome), stands a young man confronted with his calling. The historical drama was at the very top of the scale of aesthetic values at this time, a value judgement closely linked to the emergence of the modern, nineteenth-century nation state. It was de rigueur for the leading figures of such nations to be depicted as models of ethical and

Opposite page: Strindberg, April 1875. Photographer: G.W. Brunstedt, Stockholm. Next page: Strandvägen, Stockholm, looking towards Nybroplan, 1870s. On the left, cutters with their sails unfurled to dry.

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Below: Gustaf Edvard Klemming, Strindberg’s respected superior at the Royal Library. Drawing with watercolour wash, done by the author in 1880. Opposite page top: The Royal Library, Stockholm. Photographer: Axel Lindahl. Strindberg held a post at the library (with many leaves of absence) 1874–82. The collections were originally housed at the Royal Palace but were moved to purpose-built premises in Humlegården Park in 1877. Opposite page below: The reading rooms of the Royal Library, drawing by G.A. Mankell and R. Haglund, Ny Illustrerad Tidning, 1878. The bearded man on the right is the head of the library, G.E. Klemming. Next page: Berns Restaurant and Music Hall in Berzelii Park, Stockholm, 1870s. Photographer: Johannes Jaeger, Stockholm. The eponymous ‘Red Room’ immortalised by Strindberg in his breakthrough novel of 1879 was at Berns: ‘Hordes of young people gathered there at around seven o’clock: young people in that peculiar state that begins on leaving the parental home and lasts until they have a home of their own. It was crowded with bachelors who had fled their lonely rooms and garrets and come here in order to sit in the warm and light and converse with their fellow men.’

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political integrity, facing moments of crucial importance for their country. Drama was expected to promote patriotism and civic virtue. The historic period Strindberg chose was the time of the Swedish Reformation, when the political and religious stakes were high, and the nation of Sweden was being born or reborn as Gustav Vasa freed the country from the Danes, the German Hanseatic League and papal power. It was ideally suited to what Strindberg’s time demanded of the history play. The historical figures with which he peopled his stage – Gustav Vasa; the reforming clergymen Olaus and Laurentius Petri; and the defender of Catholicism, Bishop Brask – were well suited for illustrating an unambiguous sens moral. But Strindberg broke the rules and created a drama of a completely different kind, in which history sheds light on social and moral problems of the current day. The eponymous Olof certainly experiences a calling – ‘You are born to offend; you are born to hit out’ – and accepts it, but when he is condemned to death he repents at the pillory outside Storkyrkan (the Cathedral) in Stockholm and becomes a tool of the king. A wholly unhistorical character, Gert the Book Printer, is introduced and almost takes over the leading role. He is really more a product of Strindberg’s time than of medieval Sweden, and could have been one of the fighters in the recently crushed Paris Commune. He joins battle with both the King and the Pope, and is given the last word in the play with his contemptuous cry of ‘Apostate!’ (Avfälling!). He is also a kindred spirit of the Mephistopheles who offers his services to Goethe’s Faust, and to a Jesus betrayed by his disciple Peter. The Gustav Vasa of the play is no idealised figure, either, but rather unscrupulous and engaging in power politics. Strindberg’s master here was Shakespeare, rather than the historical drama conventions of the day. He had also learnt from the English playwright to mix high and low. Scenes in the palace are interspersed with uninhibited exchanges in a tavern, where a polyglot gathering stands for the peoples of Europe. A comic scene involving a thirsty churchwarden and his wife is irreverently juxtaposed with a lofty discussion of individual responsibility and obligations. The big questions of politics and religion in public life contrast with the smallerscale duties and pleasures of family life, while mercilessly exposing the contradictions between theory and practice. The quartet of Olof, his wife, Christina, and his mother – also called Christina! – and his wife’s father, Gert, do, in fact, come across as some kind of troubled nuclear family comprising parents, son and daughter. Olof is forced to fail his deeply Catholic mother when he refuses to give her extreme unction. And neither his nor his father-in-law Gert’s passion for freedom extend to the younger Christina. Olof betrays his father/father-in-law when he renounces all he has fought for, just as the latter condemns his son/son-in-law. Strindberg had by now learnt to make effective use of metadramatic elements and to incorporate ingenious imagery into his dialogue. The Bible story of the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples forms a background not only to Olof’s acceptance of his calling but also to Gert’s rapture. The hopes of Whitsuntide have been dashed by the time summer comes. Nature itself yields material for the language and its rich imagery. ‘Our harvest was not ripe,’ declares Gert the revolutionary. Young people are likened to spring plants: ‘They finally push aside the dry leaves, or shoot straight up through them, because they must come forth.’ The church play of Olof’s innocent confirmation pupils is part of youth, but has little relevance for the reality of adulthood. Gert


has come to his senses in the madhouse, and his feigned madness à la Hamlet makes it possible for him to tell truths that would otherwise be impossible to state. There are all manner of disguises to sow confusion in good old theatrical style, not only among the actors on stage but also among us, the audience: when Gert conceals himself in the guise of a burgher, and a harlot dons a nun’s veil, identity becomes a matter of debate. The stern Constable accuses Olof of ‘playing the common labourer, only to unmask yourself as God!’ The quick-fire dialogue is imbued with a power and expressiveness not found in either Strindberg’s own earlier works or other Swedish drama of the period. Everyday turns of phrase are combined with biblical allusion and archaic expressions. Strindberg drew inspiration for the play’s ideological debate from the relativist view of history put forward by Englishman H.T. Buckle, which questioned the existence of absolute truths. Olof can thus say to his mother: ‘When you were young, Mother, you were right; when I grow old, then perhaps I will be wrong! We do not grow at the same pace as time!’ Strindberg often had the works of Søren Kierkegaard open on the desk in his study in Uppsala: ‘He is terrible! He drags one along with him

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The house on Kymmendö, with the ‘annexe’ to the left; the lilac hedge in front of the main house was planted by Strindberg. Photography: Hjalmar Öhrwall, 1904. Strindberg and some friends first came here in 1871, and he returned several times with friends and his first family. The final summer he spent here was that of 1883. The island, a ‘basket of flowers in the surging sea’, came to symbolise happiness both earthly and divine.

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into a dance of death! That’s just the man for me!’ The Danish philosopher’s stern admonitions to heed one’s calling had already been given dramatic form in Henrik Ibsen’s Brand, and was also a central source for Strindberg’s first play Fritänkaren (The Free Thinker). His influence on Master Olof is also clearly discernible. Strindberg had invested a great deal of hope in the play, and was naturally bitterly disappointed when the Royal Theatre refused the piece as ‘immature’, and clung to the prevailing conventions of the theatre when it claimed that major representatives of Swedish history had been dragged in the dirt. The result was, firstly, a bout of depression in the autumn of 1872 – ‘I have one consolation, namely: that things can get no worse for me! I only regret that circumstances have denied me the chance to heed my calling fully, for I still believe in a great calling, or I believe in nothing at all! I am done for!’ – and, secondly, a frantic reworking of the play in the years that followed, producing first the so-called intermediate version of 1874 and then, once more, in a new form in verse, in 1876. The result was further refusals by the theatres, and this time there was no prize or citation from the Swedish Academy, either. first attempt at novel writing The summer on Kymmendö proved productive in literary terms. Strindberg also found time to start on his very first attempt at novel writing, ‘En berättelse från


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BREAKTHROUGH

1879 began inauspiciously for the young couple. These were recessionary times in Sweden and many companies were going out of business. Strindberg, too, found himself dragged down, and on 9 January was obliged to file for bankruptcy. The couple’s main financial assets were in bonds that Siri von Essen had brought with her into the marriage. The marriage settlement showed the groom to have had 900 kronor to his name, the bride 15,697. Now, however, they had debts of 9,252 kronor, and assets amounting to 5,591. There were other debts, too, in the form of loans. No one has yet made so bold as to write the full story of Strindberg’s financial situation. He himself had a fatalistic conviction that he was ‘born with my affairs in a bad state!’ He was still officially employed at the Royal Library, but had taken many long sabbaticals. Good advice was expensive: Strindberg had lost his ‘operational base’. Necessity forced him to ask publishers for translation work, and he had plans to start another magazine. But crisis was averted by the raising of new loans. From this point on, financial worries would be a constant blight on the couple. He despised the translation assignments, viewing them as prostitution and women’s work. He therefore signed his translation into Swedish of an anthology entitled ‘American Humorists’ only with his initials, ‘J.A.S.’ He let it be understood that various of his other translations had been done by his wife. But life went on. In the course of the year, Strindberg and his heavily pregnant wife moved to 14–16 Humlegården, where they rented a set of rooms for the subsequent two years. Strindberg was a fanatical dog-hater, but nonetheless let his wife bring her little Mutte, a gesture that he was later to regret. And in February their daughter, Karin, was born. In 1881 they moved to an apartment more in keeping with their station: it was in Östermalmsgatan, and had five rooms and 250 square metres of floor space. Thus existence continued on its usual course, despite the tiresome fact of bankruptcy. There were no ugly clouds on the marital horizon. The young couple threw themselves wholeheartedly into their social life. Strindberg founded ‘The Club’, mimicking the orders popular at the time. It had its own statutes, in actual, printed form, and all manner of ceremonially appointed committee members – ‘Grand Master’, ‘Grand Mistress, ‘Master of Ceremonies’ – and trappings like medals and honours, the ritual ‘speech to the lady’, fireworks, singing and music. A family-friendly skittle club was also founded, and held activities when the weather permitted. Strindberg was also part of a more male circle, which generally frequented the Gropen café in the cellar of the Grand Hotel. There he could continue to enjoy the most pleasant elements of bachelor life. The summers of 1880–83 were spent on his beloved Kymmendö, ‘The Isle of the Blessed’. From that point on, the island became a utopia in practice for Strindberg, first as an earthly memory of the happiness of his youth, young love, summer, children and friends, and later as a metaphysical vision of the hereafter. Islands have always fascinated utopians, and Strindberg was in good company here. Plato depicted the

Søren Kierkegaard. Drawing by Niels Christian Kierkegaard, c. 1840. ‘I sought out Kierkegaard again. He is dreadful! But he catches you up in a dance of death! He is just the man for me!’ (Letter to Eugène Fahlstedt, 26 September 1872.) Opposite page: Strindberg, 1879. Photographers: C. & J. du Jardin, Stockholm. Next page: Östra Slussgatan, Stockholm, with Skeppsbron in the background. Photographed in 1896.

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legendary submerged continent of Atlantis with great feeling. In 1516, Thomas More invented the very concept of Utopia with his book of that name, written in Latin and set on an island. And his fellow Englishman Daniel Defoe also chose an island setting for the realisation of Robinson Crusoe’s enlightenment dreams in 1719. On Kymmendö, Strindberg lived ‘in a paradise’, ordering books on fungi, birds and flora from town. He was particularly intrigued to know whether he really had located truffles. In the summer of 1881, the family was accompanied on its move out of town by a midwife, or ‘earth mother’ as they were then known. A daughter, Greta, was born, and a grand christening party was arranged, for which the proud father, despite his political radicalism, demanded that the godparents arrayed themselves in all the orders and medals they possessed. ‘It is indescribably lovely here’ he wrote of the island, or quite simply, ‘Stupendous!’ The father of two also found time to take an interest in fishing, personally landing ‘brilliant’ perch, and harvested spinach, cucumber, asparagus, artichokes and melons that he had grown himself. He noted with satisfaction that he was getting fat. Life was good. He playfully made indiscreet enquiries into the rumour that his artist friend Carl Larsson had got a maidservant pregnant. A fifty-kronor note, he maintained, would suffice, if he wanted to be spared the cost of maintaining the child. The following summer, it was only Strindberg who went out to Kymmendö with the children and the maid. New loans had made the trip possible; it was a financial model that was becoming routine. This was when he built the ‘writing hut’ that has resisted the ravages of time and is still standing today. Siri von Essen had been invited to perform in Helsinki, and had been there since April. Her absence affords us insights into the marriage, as her unhappy husband positively bombarded her with letters and telegrams appealing for her immediate return home. He told friends that without his wife he was ‘wretched and devoid of companionship’. He finally resorted to informing her that he was ill and her return therefore vital. Flashpoints and sources of future conflict can be detected in the letters: Did his wife want a ‘pleasant and tranquil summer?’ In that case she ought to let him continue running the household economy: Not because I can do it better than you but so that you are spared the discussion of trivial matters, and the anxiety of knowing the money will soon be gone […]; because I am busy learning what money is worth, and thereby learning to economise, and above all so that our personal relations shall be unclouded by mere trifles. February 1883 saw the death of Strindberg’s father, with whom he had not been reconciled. In a letter to a good friend a month or so previously, he had written the revealing words: ‘My father is dying, unless he is already dead.’

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LIFE AND WORK (Theatres are in Stockholm unless otherwise indicated. Dates given for plays are the years in which they were written, unless otherwise stated. English titles not in italics indicate that the work has not been published in English.) 1849 Johan August Strindberg born 22 January at Riddarholmen in Stockholm, son of steamboat commissioner Carl Oscar Strindberg (1811–83) and his wife Eleonora, née Norling (1823-1862). 1862 His mother, Eleonora Strindberg, died 20 March. 1863 Father married 13 February to Emilia Petersson (1841–87). 1867 Matriculated from Stockholms Lyceum (grammar school) 25 May. In September embarked on a course of study at Uppsala University that was to be frequently interrupted. 1869 Walk-on part at Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm; failed the acting test; temporary work as an elementary school teacher, tutor, editor, journalist and critic. First trip abroad, to Copenhagen. Wrote his first play, Fritänkaren (The Free Thinker), under the pseudonym Härved Ulf (premiere at resurrected Intimate Theatre, 2003). 1870 Historical drama Hermione (never performed). First theatrical premiere, I Rom (In Rome) at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. 1871 Play Den fredlöse (The Outlaw) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre the same year). First summer on Kymmendö in the Stockholm archipelago. 1872 Play Mäster Olof (Master Olof) written but not premiered until 1881 (New Theatre). The early 1870s were Strindberg’s first period of painting. 1873 October–December as a telegraph apprentice on Sandhamn in the Stockholm archipelago. 1874–82 Non-permanent assistant (with many leaves of absence) at the Royal Library. 1876 First trip to Paris. 1877 Short-story collection Från Fjärdingen till Svartbäcken (From Fjärdingen to Svartbäcken). Married 30 December to 27-year-old Siri von Essen (1850–1912); children: Kerstin (born and died 21.1.1878), Karin (26.6.1880–1973), Greta (proper name Margareta) (9.6.1881–16.6.1912) and Hans (3.4.1884–1917). 1879 Novel Röda rummet (The Red Room), his breakthrough. 1880 Historical drama Gillets hemlighet (The Secret of the Guild) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1880). 1880–82 Gamla Stockholm (Old Stockholm), cultural history.

1881 Kulturhistoriska studier (Studies in the History of Civilisation). 1881–82 Svenska folket (The Swedish People), intended to tell ‘a thousand years of Swedish cultural history’, meets sharp criticism from professional historians. 1882 Satirical short-story collection Det nya riket (The New State), intended, in part, to get back at the critics of The Swedish People. Wrote the first of his historical novellas Svenska öden och äventyr (Swedish Destinies and Adventures). Fairytale play Lycko-Pers resa (Lucky Per’s Journey) (premiere at the New Theatre, 1883). Historical drama Herr Bengts hustru (Sir Bengt’s Wife) (premiere at the New Theatre, 1883). 1883 Strindberg’s father died 3 February. Dikter på vers och prosa (Poems in Verse and prose) Left Sweden in September with his wife, two daughters and nursery maid Eva Carlsson. 1883–89 Lived abroad, in Grez to the south of Paris, Paris, Switzerland, Lindau in Bavaria, Germany and Denmark. 1883 In March took his family to Italy (Pegli outside Genoa). June–July with his family in Luc-sur-Mer, Calvados, France. 1884 Poetry collection Sömngångarnätter (Somnambulist Nights). Prosecution for blasphemy brought against short-story collection Giftas (Getting Married); trial in Stockholm, Strindberg acquitted. Essay collection Likt och olikt I–II (One Thing and Another). 1885 Short stories Utopier i verkligheten (Real Utopias). February trip to Venice and Rome with Verner von Heidenstam and Heidenstam’s wife. 1886 Giftas II (Getting Married II) The first two parts of his autobiography Tjänstekvinnans son (The Son of a Servant). (The third part was published in 1887, the fourth not until 1909.) Reportage trip round France. 1886–87 Wrote the play Kamraterna (Comrades) (premiere in Vienna, 1905). 1887 Fadren (The Father) (premiere in Copenhagen, 1887), Hemsöborna (The Natives of Hemsö). 1887–88 Wrote (in French) En dåres försvarstal (A Madman’s Manifesto), an account of his life with Siri von Essen. The book was published first in German in 1893, then in French in 1895. 1888 Essay collection Blomstermålningar och djurstycken (Flower Paintings and Animal Pieces). Short-story collection Skärkarlsliv (Life in the Skerries).

Fröken Julie (Miss Julie) (premiere in Copenhagen, 1889). Set up the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen. 1889 His novel Tschandala (Tschandala) published (in Danish translation). One-act play Den starkare (The Stronger) (premiere in Copenhagen, 1889). Travelogue Bland franska bönder (Among French Peasants). One-act play Samum (Simoon) (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1890). 1889–91 Lived in Stockholm, Sandhamn, Runmarö and Dalarö in the Stockholm archipelago, Nacka and Brevik in Värmdölandet and Djursholm. 1890 Tryckt och otryckt I (Printed and Unprinted I) a collection of texts in a variety of genres; three further volumes published 1890–91 and 1897. Novel I havsbandet (By the Open Sea). Travelling in Sweden, September–October. The early 1890s were Strindberg’s second period of painting. 1891 Travelling in Sweden, August–September. 1892 Comedy Leka med elden (Playing with Fire) (premiere in Berlin, 1893). Wrote the one-act plays Debet och kredit (Debit and Credit) (premiere in Berlin, 1900), Första varningen (The First Warning), Inför döden (Facing Death) (premieres in Berlin, 1893) and Moderskärlek (Motherly Love) (premiere in Germany, 1894). Fairytale play Himmelrikets nycklar (The Keys of Heaven) (premiere at Bad Godesberg, Germany, 1927). Divorce from Siri von Essen; experiments in colour photography. Moved to Berlin in September; bohemian lifestyle based at the tavern Zum schwarzen Ferkel. 1893 2 May married 21-year-old Austrian journalist Frida Uhl (1872–1943) on Heligoland. Trips to London and to the island of Rügen in the North Sea. Prosecuted for immorality for German edition of En dåres försvarstal (A Madman’s Manifesto). Fordringsägare (Creditors) German premiere at Residenzteater in Berlin. French premiere of Fröken Julie (Miss Julie) at Théâtre Libre in Paris. October trip to Lund. 1894 Strindberg and Frida Uhl’s daughter Kerstin (proper name Christine) (26.5.1894– 1956) born. Living in Germany, Austria, Versailles and Paris. Divorce from Frida Uhl (marriage not formally dissolved until 1897).

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1895 Admitted to Hôpital St-Louis, Paris, in January. 1894–97 Inferno crisis; wrote little fiction, concentrating instead on scientific experiments and speculations, alchemy and painting. Papers in this period included: Antibarbarus I (an investigation of the nature of basic elements, published in German, 1894), Introduction à une chimie unitaire (Introduction to a Unified Chemistry), 1895, Sylva Sylvarum (in French), 1896, and Jardin des Plantes, 1896. Living in Austria, Versailles, Paris, and Ystad and Skurup in the Swedish province of Skåne. Largely autobiographical novel Inferno (written in French). 1898 Went back to live in Lund. Visited Maredsous monastery in Belgium. Story Legender (Legends) with autobiographical elements. Play Till Damaskus (To Damascus) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1900) (a second part was written the same year and a third in 1901). Play Advent (premiere in Munich, 1915). Chemical investigation Typer och prototyper inom mineralkemien (Types and Prototypes in Mineral Chemistry). 1899 Moved back to Stockholm. Contemporary play Brott och brott (Crimes and Crimes) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1900) and historical dramas Folkungasagan (The Saga of the Folkungs) (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1901), Gustav Vasa (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1899) and Erik XIV (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1899). 1900 Påsk (Easter) (premiere in Frankfurt am Main, 1901), Midsommar (Midsummer) (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1901), Dödsdansen I–II (The Dance of Death I–II) (premiere in Cologne, 1905). Start of Strindberg’s third period of painting. 1901 Married 22-year-old actress Harriet Bosse (1878–1961). Plays Kronbruden (The Virgin Bride)

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(premiere in Helsinki, 1906), Svanevit (Swanwhite) (premiere in Helsinki, 1908), Karl XII (Charles XII) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1902), Engelbrekt (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1901), Kristina (Queen Christina) (premiere at the Intimate Theatre, 1908) and Ett drömspel (A Dreamplay) (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1907). 1902 Strindberg and Harriet Bosse’s daughter Anne-Marie (26.3.1902–2007) born. Play Gustav III (premiere at the new Intimate Theatre, 1916). Poetry collection Ordalek och småkonst (Word Play and Minor Art). 1903 Sagor (Tales). Novella Ensam (Alone). Näktergalen i Wittenberg (The Nightingale of Wittenberg), play about Martin Luther (premiere in Berlin, 1914). 1904 Divorce from Harriet Bosse. Novels Götiska rummen (The Gothic Rooms) and Svarta fanor (Black Banners) (not published until 1907). 1905 Short stories Historiska miniatyrer I–II (Historical Miniatures I–II). 1906 Historical short stories Nya svenska öden I–II (New Swedish Destinies I–II). 1907 With August Falck, set up his own theatre, the Intimate Theatre, at Norra Bantorget in Stockholm; the final performance there was on 11.12.1910. Chamber plays Oväder (Thunder In the Air), Brända tomten (The Burned House) (premieres at the Intimate Theatre, 1907), Spöksonaten (The Ghost Sonata) (premiere at the Intimate Theatre, 1908) and Pelikanen (The Pelican) (premiere at the Intimate Theatre, 1907). Novella Taklagsöl (The Roofing Ceremony). 1908 Moved to his final home, the Blue Tower, 85 Drottninggatan (now the Strindberg Museum). Theatrical pamphlets: Memorandum till Medlemmarne av Intima Teatern från Regissören (Memorandum to the Members of the Intimate Theatre from the Director); Hamlet.

Ett Minnesblad på årsdagen [...] (Hamlet: An Anniversary Memorandum [...]); Julius Caesar. Shakespeares Historiska Drama [...] (Julius Caesar: Shakespeare’s Historical Drama [...]); Shakespeares Macbeth, Othello, Romeo och Julia, Stormen, Kung Lear, Henrik VIII, En Midsommarnattsdröm (Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, King Lear, Henry VIII, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) (1908); Öppna Brev till Intima Teatern (Open Letters to the Intimate Theatre) (1909). Fairytale play Abu Casems tofflor (Abu Casem’s Slippers). Historical dramas Siste riddaren (The Last of the Knights) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1909) and Riksföreståndaren (The Regent) (premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1911). 1908–12 Collected reflections En blå bok I–IV (A Blue Book I–IV). 1909 Historical drama Bjälbo-Jarlen (Earl Birger of Bjälbo) (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1909). Chamber play Svarta handsken (The Black Glove) (premiere in Falun, 1909). Wrote his final play, Stora landsvägen (The Great Highway) (premiere at the Intimate Theatre, 1910). 1910–12 The Strindberg Feud, one of the most sustained and intense press controversies ever seen in Sweden. Most of Strindberg’s articles in Afton-Tidningen and Social-Demokraten were also published as pamphlets: Tal till svenska nationen (Speeches to the Swedish Nation); Folkstaten (The Popular State) and Religiös renässans (Religious Renaissance) (1910); Tsarens kurir (The Courier of the Tsar) (1912). 1912 Large crowds of people paid tribute to him on his 63rd and final birthday, and in March he was presented with a ‘People’s Nobel Prize’. Died 14 May. Buried at New (North) Cemetery in Stockholm on 19 May.


BIBLIOGRAPHY All works of major importance used in this volume are listed below. Strindberg’s Works and Letters August Strindbergs Samlade Verk 1–72. Nationalupplaga, (series ed.) Lars Dahlbäck 1981–2008, Per Stam 2009–. Hemsöborna, August Strindbergs Samlade skrifter 21, (ed.) John Landquist, 1914. Efterslåtter, August Strindbergs Samlade skrifter 54, (ed.) John Landquist, 1920. Ockulta dagboken, facsimile edition, Gidlunds förlag, 1977. I Bernadottes land, foreword and commentary by Germund Michanek; transl. from French by Sven Stolpe, 1981. August Strindberg. Tolf Impressionist-Bilder, (ed.) Björn Meidal, 1997. August Strindbergs Brev I–XXII, (eds.) Torsten Eklund (I–XV) and Björn Meidal (XVI–XXII), 1949–2001. Verner von Heidenstam, August Strindberg, Brev 1884–1890. With an introduction by Magnus von Platen, commentary by Gudmund Fröberg, 1999. Correspondence between Strindberg and Friedrich Nietzsche, (ed.) Walter A. Berendsohn, in Samfundet Örebro stads- och länsbiblioteks vänner, Meddelande, no. XVI, 1948. Wenn nein, nein! August Strindberg und Frida Uhl. Briefwechsel 1893–1902, (ed.) Friedrich Buchmayr, 1993. Strindbergs Brev till Harriet Bosse. With a commentary by Harriet Bosse, 1932. Brev till min dotter Kerstin, transl. from German by Karin Boye and Åke Thulstrup, 1961. Unpublished Material Vilhelm Carlheim-Gyllensköld’s notes of conversations with Strindberg, Royal Library, Stockholm. Carl Larsson, letter to August Strindberg 5.9.1883, Uppsala University Library. Adolf Paul, letter to John Dahlberg 28.9.1892, Uppsala University Library. Peter Watkins, August Strindberg. His Life and Work. A Film Manuscript, typescript, 1983, author’s archive. Published Material Ahlström, Stellan, Strindbergs erövring av Paris. Strindberg och Frankrike 1884–1895, (diss.), 1956. Balbierz, Jan, ‘Strindberg bland hieroglyfer’, Strindbergiana. Tjugonde samlingen, 2005. Bark, Richard, ‘När Strindberg och Ibsen inte träffades i Lund’, Strindbergiana. Sextonde samlingen, 2001. Bellquist, James, Strindberg as a Modern Poet:

A Critical and Comparative Study, (diss.), 1986. Bengtsson, Simon, ‘Strindberg i Lund under 1890-talet’, Kulturen, 1979. Bennich-Björkman, Bo, ‘Fåglar och författarroller hos Strindberg’, Samlaren, 83, 1962. ‘Strindberg, kulturhistorien och 1800-talets folkliga underhållning’, Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Uppsala. Årsbok 1989, 1989. Berendsohn, Walter A., Strindbergs sista levnadsår. Tiden i Blå Tornet 10 juli–14 maj 1912, 1948. Bergman, Gösta M., Den moderna teaterns genombrott 1890–1925, 1966. Bergman, Johan, Hågkomster, 1943. Boëthius, Ulf, Strindberg och kvinnofrågan till och med Giftas I, (diss.), 1969. Bolinder, Jean, ‘Strindberg var mannen som gjorde himmelen blå! Den döende Strindberg och Stockholmspressen’, Strindbergiana. Sjunde samlingen, 1992. Bonnier, K.O., Bonniers. En bokhandlarefamilj, IV, 1931. Brandell, Gunnar, Strindbergs infernokris, (diss.), 1950. Freud och hans tid, 1961, new edition, 1970. Strindberg – ett författarliv, 1–4, 1983–1989. ‘Djursholm och det litterära nittiotalet’, Skrifter utg. av Samfundet Djursholms forntid och framtid, IX, årg. 1958, 1959. Brandes, Georg, Berlin som tysk Rigshovedstad, 1885. Fugleperspektiv, 1913. Bring, Ove, ‘Strindberg och folkrätten’, Strindbergiana. Femtonde samlingen, 2000. Brundin, Margareta, ‘Kungliga Bibliotekets Strindbergssamlingar’, Strindbergiana. Första samlingen, 1985. ‘Vita lamm och svarta får. Om den första översättningen av “Baa, baa, black sheep”’, Strindbergiana. Tredje samlingen, 1988. (ed.), August Strindberg. Diktare och mångfrestare, 1999. ‘Eleonora Strindberg: Till mina Gossar. Ett nyförvärvat manuskript i Kungl. Biblioteket’, Strindbergiana. Sextonde samlingen, 2001. Buchmayr, Friedrich, Madame Strindberg oder Die Faszination der Boheme, 2011. Carlheim-Gyllensköld, Monika, ‘Ordning eller oordning i Strindbergs bibliotek: Vilhelm Carlheim-Gyllenskölds insats’, Strindbergiana. Första samlingen, 1985. Carlsson, Sten, Svensk historia. II. Tiden efter 1718, 1964. Cullberg, Johan, ‘Strindbergs inferno’, in Skaparkriser. Strindbergs inferno och Dagermans, 1992. Dahlbäck, Kerstin, Ändå tycks allt vara osagt.

August Strindberg som brevskrivare, 1994. Dahlbäck, Lars, Strindbergs Hemsöborna. En monografi, (diss.), 1974. ‘Hemsöborna blir en klassiker’, Meddelanden från Strindbergssällskapet, no. 33, 1963. Dahlbäck, Maj, Siri von Essen i verkligheten, 1989. ‘Änglamakerskan – en myt i Strindbergs fantasi’, Strindbergiana. Fjärde samlingen, 1989. Delblanc, Sven, ‘Kärlekens föda. Ett motiv i Strindbergs kammarspel – bakgrund och innebörd’, in Stormhatten, 1979. Dikterna om Strindberg, (ed.) Harald Svensson, 1963. Dubois Janni, Thérèse, August Strindberg. En biografi i text och bild, 1973. Edqvist, Sven-Gustaf, Samhällets fiende. En studie i Strindbergs anarkism till och med Tjänstekvinnans son, (diss.), 1961. Eklund, Torsten, Tjänstekvinnans son. En psykologisk Strindbergsstudie, (diss.), 1948. ‘Från Riddarholmen till Blå tornet’, Meddelanden från Strindbergssällskapet, no. 21, 1957. ‘Idag har jag gudamat . . .’ in Strindberg. Kulturhuset Stockholm 15 maj–4 oktober, (eds.) Folke Olsson and others, 1981. Ekman, Hans-Göran, Klädernas Magi. En Strindbergsstudie, 1991. Falck, August, Fem år med Strindberg, 1935. Falkner, Fanny, August Strindberg i Blå tornet, 1921. Falkner-Söderberg, Stella, Fanny Falkner och August Strindberg, 1970. Forsell, Gideon, Kymmendö och ‘Hemsöborna’, 1926. Gavel Adams, Ann-Charlotte, The Generic Ambiguity of August Strindberg’s Inferno: Occult Novel and Autobiography, (diss.), 1990. Geete, Robert, ‘Till August Strindbergs ungdomshistoria’, in Ur språklådan, 1914. Gerstinger, Heinz, Holdes Märchen und böser Traum. August Strindbergs Ehe mit Frida Uhl, 1987. Grönblad, Ester, Furusund – ett skärgårdscentrum, 1970. Hagsten, Allan, Den unge Strindberg I–II, (diss.), 1951. Hedin, Sven, Stormän och kungar I, 1918. Hemmingsson, Per, August Strindberg som fotograf, 1989. Hockenjos, Vreni, ‘“För övrigt tar jag ögonblicksbilder”. Strindberg i en fotohistorisk kontext’, Strindbergiana. Artonde samlingen, 2003. Jacobsen, Harry, Digteren og Fantasten.

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Strindberg paa ‘Skovlyst’, 1945. Strindberg og hans første Hustru, 1946. Strindberg i Firsernes København, 1948. Johannesson, Eric O., August Strindberg: A Study in Theme and Structure, 1968. Järv, Harry (ed.), Strindbergsfejden I–II, 1968. Kistner-Ljungquist, Hedvig, ‘Strindbergs sista natt’, Meddelanden från Strindbergssällskapet, no. 4, 1948. ‘Från Strindbergs sista sjukdom’, Meddelanden från Strindbergssällskapet, no. 33, 1963. Kärnell, Karl-Åke, Strindbergs bildspråk. En studie i prosastil, (diss.), 1962. Lagercrantz, Olof, August Strindberg, 1979. Lamm, Martin, August Strindberg I–II, 1940, 1942. Leclercq, Julien, Människans fysionomi. Om ansikten och karakterer, 1899. Linder, Gurli, Sällskapsliv i Stockholm under 1880- och 1890-talen, 1918. Lindström, Hans, Hjärnornas kamp. Psykologiska idéer och motiv i Strindbergs åttiotalsdiktning, (diss.), 1952. Strindberg och böckerna. I. Biblioteken 1883, 1892 och 1912. Förteckningar och kommentarer, 1977. Lundstedt, Göran (ed.), Strindberg i Lund. En antologi, 2001. Lundwall, Sten, Strindberg, Nordiska museet och Vilhelm Carlheim-Gyllensköld, 1972. Meidal, Björn, Från profet till folktribun. Strindberg och Strindbergsfejden 1910–12, (diss.), 1982. ‘“Mina ögon äro röda som mörtens och fodret i min rock är ruttet av svett”. Strindberg bland franska bönder’, in Tio reportage som förändrade världen, (eds.) Otto von Friesen, Christer Hellmark and Jan Stolpe, 1982. ‘Författaren som detektiv. August Strindberg och Edgar Allan Poe. Några beröringspunkter’, in Läskonst, skrivkonst, diktkonst. Aderton betraktelser över dikt och diktande. Till Thure Stenström 12/4 1987, (eds.) Pär Hellström and Tore Wretö, 1987. ‘Odalmannen och vikingen. Bonden i svensk litteratur’, in Bonden i dikt och verklighet, (ed.) Bo Larsson, 1993. August Strindbergs kokbok, 1998. ‘[Poe’s Influence on Major World Writers] Ola Hansson and August Strindberg’, in Poe Abroad, (ed.) Louis Davis Vines, 1999. ‘August Strindberg – “Oh, så osvenskt”?’, in Vad är Sverige? Röster om nationell identitet, (ed.) Alf W. Johansson, 2001. God dag, mitt barn! Berättelsen om August Strindberg, Harriet Bosse och deras dotter Anne-Marie, 2002 (paperback edn. 2003). ‘Sinicus rapticus. August Strindberg, China and the Chinese language’, in Medvandrare.

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Festskrift till Roger Holmström den 13 november 2008, (eds.) Michel Ekman, Julia Tidigs and Clas Zilliacus, Åbo, 2008. (In Swedish translation in Strindbergiana. Tjugosjätte samlingen, 2011.) ‘Tjugotre år, skön, och något för intelligent. Frida Uhl och tiden i Berlin’, in Om Strindberg, (ed.) Lena Einhorn, 2010. ‘“Hvarför ville Du icke vara den jag diktade Dig till?”. Äktenskapet med Harriet Bosse’, in Om Strindberg, (ed.) Lena Einhorn, 2010. Michanek, Germund, Skaldernas konung. Oscar II, litteraturen och litteratörerna, 1979. Myrdal, Jan, ‘Lika normal som sill och potatis’ and ‘Strindberg och antisemitismen’, in I de svartare fanors tid. Texter om litteratur, lögn och förbannad dikt, 1998. Johan August Strindberg, 2000. Myrdal, Janken, ‘Den stora striden om kulturhistoria 1881–82’, Förr och Nu, no. 2, 1976. Norseng, Mary Kay, Dagny Juel Przybyszewska. The Woman and the Myth, 1991. Ollén, Gunnar, Strindbergs 1900-talslyrik, (diss.), 1941. Strindbergs dramatik, 4th edn., 1982. Paul, Adolf, Min Strindbergsbok, 1930. Philp, Anna Maria Strindberg, von and Nora Strindberg Hartzell, Strindbergs systrar berätta om barndomshemmet och om bror August, 1926. Ralph, Bo, ‘Strindberg och språkvetenskapen’, in August Strindbergs Samlade Verk 69. ‘Strindbergs språkvetenskapliga skrifter’, Strindbergiana. Tjugofjärde samlingen, 2009. Rasmussen, Alice, ‘Det går en oro genom själen…’ Strindbergs hem och vistelseorter i Norden, 1997. Rinman, Sven, ‘Strindberg’, in Ny illustrerad svensk litteraturhistoria. Fjärde delen. Åttiotal, nittiotal, (senior ed.) E.N. Tigerstedt, 1957. Sabzevari, Hanif, Varför tiger du? Expositionen i sju enaktare av August Strindberg, (diss.), 2008. Schleich, Carl Ludwig, Erinnerungen an Strindberg, 1917. Det var dock härligt att leva, transl. from German by Teresia Eurén, 1937. Schmidt, Torsten Måtte (ed.), Strindbergs måleri, 1972. ‘Namnet “Blå tornet”’, Meddelanden från Strindbergssällskapet, nos. 57–58, 1977. Smedmark, Carl Reinhold, Mäster Olof och Röda rummet, (diss.), 1952. Smirnoff, Karin, Strindbergs första hustru, 2nd edn., 1926. Så var det i verkligheten, 1956. Solomin, Nina, ‘Strindbergs judefientlighet fram till 1882’, Strindbergiana. Elfte samlingen, 1996. Spens, James, ‘I Musernas bidé.’ En essä om

Strindbergs ‘fula’ poesi omkring 1883, (diss.), 2000. Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg as a Dramatist, 1982. Stockenström, Göran, Ismael i öknen. Strindberg som mystiker, (diss.), 1972. Strauss, Monica, Cruel Banquet: The Life and Loves of Frida Strindberg, 2000. Strindberg. Målaren och fotografen, Nationalmuseum, (ed.) Per Hedström, 2001. Svedberg, The, ‘Strindberg som kemist’, in Forskning och industri. Naturvetenskapliga essayer, 1918. Svedfelt, Torsten, Strindbergs ansikte. En ikonografisk studie, 1948. Swerling, Anthony, Strindbergs ungdomsår, transl. from English by Hans Levander, 1981. ‘Bernard Shaws besök hos Strindberg’, Artes, no. 5, 1981. Söderberg, Rolf, Edvard Munch, August Strindberg. Fotografi som verktyg och experiment, 1989. Söderström, Göran, Strindberg och bildkonsten, (diss.), 1972. Strindbergs bostad i Blå tornet, 1999. Uddgren, Gustaf, Andra boken om Strindberg, 1912. Uhl, Frida, Strindberg och hans andra hustru. I. Före äktenskapet, transl. from German by Karin Boye, 1933. Strindberg och hans andra hustru. II. Äktenskapet, transl. from German by Karin Boye, 1934. Vinge, Louise, ‘Mat och makt i Röda rummet och Giftas’, Meddelanden från Strindbergssällskapet, no. 67, 1983. Waal, Carla, Harriet Bosse: Strindberg’s Muse and Interpreter, 1990. (Swedish transl. by Rebecca Ahlsberg, Harriet Bosse. ‘Det nya seklets skådespelerska’, 1993.) Wall, Bengt V. (ed.), Strindbergshuset. Några anteckningar, 1967. Welinder, Stig, Strindberg som arkeologikritiker, 1994. Wennberg, Kåa, Strindberg på Brevik, 1994. Strömma, Fågelbro, Brevik från det förgångna, 1996. Strindberg i Grez, 2007. Willers, Uno, Från slottsflygeln till Humlegården. August Strindberg som biblioteksman, 1962. Ögonvittnen. August Strindberg. Ungdom och mannaår, (ed.) Stellan Ahlström, 1959. Ögonvittnen. August Strindberg. Mannaår och ålderdom, (eds.) Stellan Ahlström and Torsten Eklund, 1961. All translations from Strindberg’s works and letters are by Sarah Death except for those from the novel Röda rummet, for which she has used the 2009 translation by Peter Graves: The Red Room (Norvik Press).


INDEX Page numbers in italics indicate illustrations. Abraham 185 Adler, Alfred 211 Albee, Edward 393 Alexander II 145 Alexandersson, Karin 435, 438, 440–441, 449 Alexandra Feodorovna 362 Andersen, H.C. 392 Anderson, Herman 469, 470, 475 Andersson, Nils 380, 462, 467, 469 Andersson, Oskar 191 Ansgar 99 Antisthenes 29 Antoine, André 267 Arquillière, Alexandre 267 Aspasia 294 Augustus 348 Aulin, Tor 467 Backlund, Mina 105 Bang, Herman 370 Baudelaire, Charles 226 Beckett, Samuel 393, 409 Beethoven, Ludwig van 379, 402, 457, 462 Bellman, Carl Michael 110 Benedictsson, Victoria 161, 216, 220 Berg Eriksson, Susanna Elisabeth 198 Berg, Carl Albert 196, 197, 263 Bergh, Richard 319, 380, 426, 458, 467, 469, 482 Bergman, Ingmar 403 Bergman, Johan 254–255 Bergson, Henri 480 Bismarck, Otto von 37, 172, 194 Björling, Manda 431, 432–433, 438, 440–441, 443, 446, 449, 452, 490, 491 Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne 42, 119, 122, 126, 130, 143, 153, 232, 319 Blich, T.L. Chr. 71 Blum, John 438, 440–441 Bohman, Carl Johan 22, 29 Bonnier, Albert 126–127, 130, 134, 143–145, 162, 176, 178, 185–186, 191, 194–196, 199, 206, 213, 219, 231–234, 251, 259, 336 Bonnier, Isidor 114 Bonnier, Karl Otto 115, 135, 143, 160, 431 Bonnier, Lisen 160 Borgström, Augusta 438, 440–441 Bosse, Harriet 386, 387, 390–391, 392, 393, 394–397, 398, 399, 402–403, 406, 409, 410, 411–412, 415, 416, 420, 421, 422, 423–424, 425, 431, 438, 457–458, 462, 465–467, 469, 491 Brandes, Edvard 92, 114, 161, 195, 203, 207, 212, 225 Brandes, Georg 122, 160, 161, 195, 203, 212, 220, 225–226, 250, 274, 280, 347, 361 Branting, Hjalmar 160, 170, 348, 375, 381, 424, 426, 464, 480, 482, 491

Brask, Hans 62 Breda, C.F. von 343 Buckle, H.T. 63 Buddha 308 Bülow, Waldemar 347, 349, 352, 353, 371, 374 Byron, George Gordon 131 Böcklin, Arnold 435, 452 Börjesson, Karl 424 Böök, Fredrik 464, 477, 483 Caesar 348 Carlheim-Gyllensköld, Vilhelm 329, 347, 467, 469, 482 Carlsson, Eva 122, 134, 177, 203, 231–232, 238, 245, 381 Caron, Charlotte 335, 368 Caitlin, George 78 Cervantes, Miguel de 255, 258 Charcot, Jean-Martin 216 Chekhov, Anton 259 Clair-Guyot, F. 267 Colliander, Erland 467 Cordier, Henri 71 Cuvier, Georges 323 Dahlbom, W.S. 81 Dante Alighieri 41, 134, 299, 345, 348 David, Marie 148, 153, 245–246, 250, 282, 303, 304, 458 Defoe, Daniel 86, 97 Dehmel, Richard 273, 300 Delilah 193 Demosthenes 29 Didring, Ernst 482 Dorcy, Lucienne 315 Dostoevsky, Fyodor 210 Drachmann, Holger 276 Dreyfus, Alfred 364, 365 Dubosc, André 329 Duncan, Isadora 119 Dürrenmatt, Friedrich 443 Earl Birger 449 Eckermann, Johann Peter 467 Edholm, Erik af 258 Ekbohrn, Ossian 231, 250 Eldh, Carl 426, 467 Elias, Julie 279 Elias, Julius 279 Eliasson, Anders 276, 329, 331, 334–337, 347 Encausse, Gérard 362, 363 Engberg, J. 122 Enwall, Frans 390–391, 392, 412, 413 Ericsson, John 21 Erik XIV 51, 101, 369 Eriksson, Jonas 199 Essen, Siri von 72, 73–74, 75–77, 78–79, 80–81, 83, 86–87, 103, 105, 108–109, 119, 122–123, 131–132, 134, 136, 144, 157, 162, 176, 177–178, 179, 182, 184, 185–186, 189, 191, 193, 195, 203,

206–207, 210–214, 216–217, 219–225, 231–232, 238, 243, 245–246, 250–251, 280, 282, 283, 288, 292, 303, 304, 323, 353, 362, 380, 382, 387, 403, 416, 420, 431, 452, 458, 482–483, 486, 490 Eugen, Prince 431, 446 Fahlstedt, Eugène 83 Falck, August 424, 431, 432–433, 435, 438, 440–441, 443, 446, 448, 449, 452, 455, 462, 465–466, 490, 491 Falkner, Fanny 421, 423, 430, 431, 434–435, 438, 440–441, 449, 452, 457, 462, 465, 466, 490, 491 Falkner, Frans 423, 457 Falkner, Meta 423, 457 Faure, Félix 364 Flammarion, Camille 326, 329 Flaubert, Gustave 78 Flodin, Gustaf 58 Flygare, Anna 435, 438, 439–441, 446, 449, 490, 491 Foerder, Marthe 336 Forsslund, K.-E. 464 Forstén, Ina 72, 76 Foucault, Michel 210 Frankenau, Louise de 212, 216 Franz Josef 305 Fredrikson, Gustaf 431 Freud, Sigmund 211, 305, 409, 411 Fryxell, Anders 101–102 Fröding, Gustaf 370 Garnier, Philippe 315 Gauguin, Mette 220 Gauguin, Paul 220, 323 Geijer, Erik Gustaf 93, 102, 199 Geijerstam, Gustaf af 132, 161, 176, 185–186, 238, 364–365, 368, 370–371, 374–375, 379, 392, 415, 426, 427 Geijerstam, Karl af 370 Genghis Khan 238 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 62, 103, 134, 258, 279, 457, 463, 467 Gogh, Vincent van 331 Goncourt, Edmond 210 Goncourt, Jules 210 Grabow, Carl 105, 392, 420 Grandinson, Emil 392, 412 Grétor, Willy, see Petersen, Wilhelm Gustafson, Gösta 435, 438, 440–441 Gustav II Adolf 101, 369, 382, 409 Gustav III 98, 145, 146–147, 246, 411 Gustav IV Adolf 289 Gustav Vasa 62, 369, 393, 449, 457 Hagar 185 Hammer, Christian 379 Hansen, Ludvig 212–214, 216 Hansen, Martha Magdalene 212–213, 214

501


Hansson, Ola 225, 235, 267, 269, 275, 361 Hansson, Åke 349, 370 Hasselberg, Per 344 Haussmann, Georges Eugène 402 Haydn, Joseph 392 Hazelius, Artur 93, 96, 145 Hedberg, Frans 54 Hedberg, Karl 420 Hedén, Erik 464, 491 Hedin, S.A. 491 Hedin, Sven 254, 474–476, 477, 489 Hedlund, Torsten 326, 329, 331, 334–337, 343–345, 348 Heiberg, Gunnar 276 Heidenstam, Verner von 134, 138, 162–163, 166, 170, 172, 178, 194, 212, 214, 225–226, 232–233, 369, 374–375, 427, 458, 474–476, 480, 486 Heijkorn, Edla 33 Heine, Heinrich 130, 289, 341 Hemmingsson, Per 470 Héran, Henri, see Herrmann, Paul Herrlin, Axel 356 Herrmann, Paul 362 Hillberg, Gösta 418–419, 420 Hoffmann, E.T.A. 341 Holten, Sofi 148, 153 Homer 199 Hugo, Victor 119 Hunderup, Hans Riber 195, 220, 223 Huysmans, Joris-Karl 234, 361 Ibsen, Henrik 50, 66, 78, 103, 108, 119, 122, 134–135, 143, 194–195, 226, 267, 273, 280, 319, 364–365, 368, 374, 411, 427, 438 In de Betou, Sofia 74, 75–76 Ishmael (Hagar’s son) 185, 452 James, Henry 210 Jesus (Christ) 51, 62, 76, 105, 139, 143, 353, 361, 368, 393, 491 Job 335 Johannisson, Nils 438, 440–441 Johansson, Hilma 80 Jollivet-Castelot, François 329 Jonn, Lina 348 Juel, Dagny 280, 282–283, 292, 294, 303, 305, 335, 336, 361, 406 Jung, Carl 211 Kafka, Franz 443 Kallenberg, S.J. 245 Karl XI 98, 424 Karl XII 101, 110, 409, 474–476 Karl XIV Johan 22, 119 Karl XV 55, 110 Karlfeldt, Erik Axel 393 Kessler, Harry 276 Key, Ellen 232, 382, 415, 427 Kierkegaard, Niels Christian 83 Kierkegaard, Søren 63, 83, 122, 480 Kjellgren, Alrik 438, 440–441, 452 Kléen, Emil 370 Klemming, Gustaf Edvard 62–63, 70, 172 Koch, Robert 298

502

Kristian V 220, 222 Kristina 409, 411, 424 Krohg, Christian 269, 273, 368 Kruhs, K.F. 132 Kylberg, Carl 435, 446, 452 Lagerberg, Magnus 380 Lagerlöf, Selma 369, 462, 476, 477 Lagerström, G.O. 399 Laing, R.D. 392 Lamm, Axel 42, 43 Lamm, Martin 111, 403 Landquist, John 477, 482, 486 Langen, Albert 315 Larsen, Nathalia 224, 225 Larsson, Carl 86, 97–99, 101, 102, 122, 126, 132, 143, 186, 196, 203, 304, 369, 379 Laurentius Petri 62 Laval, Gustaf de 336 Leclercq, Julien 331–332 Leja, Joseph 28, 251, 263 Leroy, Louis 78 Levertin, Oscar 427, 486, 489 Levi, Max 269, 273, 435, 438 Lidforss, Bengt 238, 239, 273, 292, 294, 306–307 Lie, Jonas 119, 126–127, 131, 145, 149 Lindberg, August 255, 258, 482 Lindberg, Per 490, 491 Lindeblad, Olof 489 Lindhagen, Albert 402 Lindman, Arvid 470 Linnaeus, Carl 101, 239, 242, 286, 288 Littmanson, Leopold 308, 311, 323, 388 Ljungquist, Johan 430, 431, 438, 440–441, 443 Looström, Claes 87 Louis Napoleon 119 Lugné-Poë, Aurélien 315 Lundegård, Axel 203, 210, 216, 217, 220 Lundequist, Gerda 418–419, 420 Lundin, Claes 93, 96–97 Luther, Martin 411, 455 Maeterlinck, Maurice 399, 452 Malijay, Edouard de 72 Manet, Édouard 98 Margareta, Queen of Denmark, Sweden and Norway 101 Marholm, Laura 269, 275 Martinson, Harry 185 Maupassant, Guy de 210, 226 Meunier, Paul-Gaston, see Réja, Marcel Mohr, Laura, see Marholm, Laura Molander, Harald 105, 420 Molander, Olof 403 Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) 218, 239, 431 Monet, Claude 98 Montelius, Oscar 102 More, Thomas 86 Mortensen, Johan 387 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 239 Munch, Edvard 122, 273, 274, 276, 282, 283, 323, 336, 362 Munthe, Axel 130

Möller, Carl 398, 402 Möller, Dagmar (née Bosse) 394, 398, 402 Mörner, Birger 246, 289, 302 Nansen, Peter 214 Napoleon I 105, 348 Nau, Eugénie 267 Ney, Michel 331 Nicholas II 362 Nietzsche, Friedrich 225, 226–227, 232, 480 Nilsson, Ivar 455 Nilsson, Lars 347 Nobel, Alfred 336 Nordau, Max 131–132 Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik 336 Nordström, Karl 186, 380, 467 Norén, Lars 393 Norling, Johan Gustaf (‘Janne’) 21 Norrie, Anna 374 Olaus Petri 62 Olsson, Ida Charlotta 76 O’Neill, Eugene 393 Orfila, Mathieu 332 Oskar II 103, 110, 132, 143, 162, 251, 382, 477 Otto, see Wegener, Otto Owen, Elisabeth (‘Lisette’) 21, 30 Owen, Samuel 21, 30 Palme, August 390–391, 392, 393, 412, 413 Palme, Hanna 254 Palme, Olof 254 Palme, Sven 254 Papus, see Encausse, Gérard Parker, Theodore 29, 50 Paul, Adolf 269, 273, 276, 279, 292, 294, 299, 304, 308 Paulus (Saulus) 468 Pavlova, Anna 119 Payne-Townshend, Charlotte 449 Pericles 294 Personne, John 177, 195 Petersen, Wilhelm 315 Petersson, Emilia Charlotta, see Strindberg, Emilia Philp, Anna–Lisa von 379 Philp, Henry von 379, 412, 482, 483, 484–485 Philp, Hugo (von) 334, 379, 387, 392, 412, 427, 482, 483 Philp, Märta von 379 Pio, Anna 219, 223 Plato 83, 86 Poe, Edgar Allan 225, 226–227, 232, 315 Pontoppidan, Henrik 203, 220 Pontoppidan, Knud 203 Proust, Marcel 119 Przybyszewski, Stanisław 269, 273, 282, 283, 292, 294, 305, 335, 336, 341, 361 Quain, John 426 Quiding, N.J. 132 Rafael-Rådberg, Erik 329 Ranft, Albert 258, 387–388, 421, 423


Ranft, Gustaf 418–419, 420 Rasputin, Grigori 362 Reicher, Emanuel 266, 267 Reinhardt, Max 403, 435, 438 Reischl, Cornelius 303, 304, 306, 368 Reischl, Marie 304, 368 Réja, Marcel 362 Renan, Ernest 29 Rosenius, C.O. 12, 33 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 26, 92, 96–97, 131–132, 139, 157, 170, 185 Rydberg, Viktor 254–255, 353, 427 Sachs, Carl 254, 259 Sager-Nelson, Olof 311 St. Augustine 185 St. Birgitta 101, 136, 424 St. Peter 62 Samek, Melanie 343, 345, 347 Sarah (Abraham’s wife) 185 Sardou, Victorien 79 Schering, Emil 374, 411 Schildknecht, Maria 438, 440–441, 446 Schiller, Friedrich von 457, 463 Schiwe, Viggo 219, 223, 224 Schlatter, Francis 362 Schleich, C.L. 276 Schopenhauer, Arthur 411, 480 Segelcke, Severin 273 Shakespeare, William 41, 62–63, 80, 123, 193, 239, 255, 258–259, 369, 381, 387, 431, 452, 455, 457 Shaw, George Bernard 449 Sisley, Alfred 98 Sjögren, Arthur 393 Sjöström, Sascha 431, 432–433 Sofia, Queen of Sweden and Norway 144, 162 Staaff, Pehr 115, 138 Steffen, Gustaf 170, 172 Sten Sture 449 Stieglitz, Alfred 470 Stiernstedt, Marika 482 Strindberg, Anna 11, 21, 30, 75, 166, 332, 379, 387, 392, 412, 482–483 Strindberg, Anne-Marie 409, 410–412, 416, 420, 423, 438, 462–463, 466, 468, 469, 483, 489, 491 Strindberg, Axel 11, 17, 20–23, 26–28, 30, 31, 157, 177–178, 195–196, 221–222, 232, 402, 467 Strindberg, Carl Oscar 11, 12, 17, 20–22, 24, 28, 29, 37, 42, 51, 75, 78, 86, 103, 119, 185 Strindberg, Edvard Theodor 20 Strindberg, Eleonora Elisabeth 20 Strindberg, Elisabeth 11, 20, 30, 250, 254, 370, 392 Strindberg, Emil 30 Strindberg, Emilia (née Petersson) 22–23, 28,

28, 30, 33, 49–50, 76 Strindberg, Friedrich 349, 353 Strindberg, Gotthard 242, 251, 259 Strindberg, Greta (Margareta) 86, 119, 123, 124–125, 132, 144, 156, 157, 160, 162, 177–178, 180–182, 186, 187, 191, 195, 203, 206–207, 220–221, 227, 231, 234, 238, 243, 245, 246, 250–251, 255, 263, 269, 273, 283, 292, 298–299, 303–304, 307, 329, 336, 348, 362, 374, 380–382, 387, 399, 466, 467, 482, 483, 484–485 Strindberg, Hans 131, 144, 160, 177, 178, 180–182, 184, 185–186, 188, 191, 195, 203, 206–207, 220–221, 227, 231–232, 238, 243, 245, 246, 250–251, 255, 263, 269, 273, 283, 292, 298–299, 303–304, 307, 329, 336, 348, 362, 369, 374, 379, 380–382, 387, 399, 482, 483 Strindberg, Hendrich 20–21 Strindberg, Johan Oscar 40, 43, 46, 49, 54, 210, 245, 326 Strindberg, Karin 83, 86, 119, 123, 124–125, 132, 144, 156, 157, 160, 162, 177–178, 180–182, 186, 187–188, 191, 195, 203, 206–207, 210, 220–221, 227, 231, 234, 238, 243, 245, 246, 250–251, 255, 263, 269, 273, 283, 292, 298–299, 303–304, 307, 329, 336, 348, 362, 370, 374, 380–382, 387, 399, 482, 483, 486 Strindberg, Kerstin (Christine) 303, 306–308, 341, 343, 347, 348–349, 371, 375, 466, 486 Strindberg, Kerstin 80 Strindberg, Ludvig Theodor 21 Strindberg, Maria Elisabeth 21 Strindberg, Nora (Eleonora) 20–21, 30, 162, 380, 382 Strindberg, Olle 11, 20, 28 Strindberg, Oscar 11, 17, 21–22, 26–30, 31, 40, 75 Strindberg, Ulrika Eleonora (née Norling) 11–12, 13, 17, 21–24, 28, 33, 75–76, 185 Strindberg, Zacharias (brother) 20 Strindberg, Zacharias (grandfather) 20, 30, 242 Ström, Fredrik 482, 491 Strömstedt, Adolf 352, 353 Stuxberg, Anton 123, 124–125 Sudermann, Herrmann 423 Svanström, Per 250 Svedberg, Mauritz 105, 106–107 Svedberg, The 307 Svennberg, Tore 380 Swedenborg, Emanuel 308, 343, 344–345, 423, 458, 469 Söderblom, Nathan 323, 482, 491, 492 Tavaststjerna, Gabrielle 279, 282–283 Tavaststjerna, K.A. 279, 294, 299 Tegnér, Esaias 41

Thaulow, Frits 336 Thegerström, Elin 254, 259 Thegerström, Robert 254, 259 Thorvaldsen, Bertel 51, 55, 134, 457–458 Tolstoy, Leo 132, 145, 480 Torstenson, Lennart 303 Türke, Gustav 276, 306 Uggla, Emilia 134, 138, 162 Uhl, Frida 275, 279, 280–281, 282–283, 286, 288–289, 292, 294–295, 299–309, 311, 315, 319, 323, 326, 332, 336–337, 341, 343–344, 347–348, 349, 353, 364, 368, 379, 387, 394, 397, 406, 465–466 Uhl, Friedrich 279, 280, 300, 308, 323 Uhl, Marie 300, 304, 307–309, 343–344, 347–348 Vallgren, Carl Wilhelm (Ville) 126, 203 Valloton, Félix 315 Verdier, Anton de 435, 446, 449 Verlaine, Paul 119 Voltaire, François de 131 Vult von Steijern, Fredrik 239, 242, 246, 379 Wahl, Anders de 375, 376–377, 380, 418–419, 420 Wahlgren, Helge 438, 440–441, 446, 452 Wall, Rudolf 67, 76 Wallenberg, A.O. 114 Warburg, Karl 415, 466, 489 Watkins, Peter 49 Wedekind, Frank 326, 349, 353 Wegener, Otto 119 Wennerberg, Gunnar 67 Westermark, Frans 341 Weyr, Marie 288–289, 292, 302, 343 Widholm, Gunnar 443 Wilde, Oscar 362 Williams, Tennessee 393 Willman, Anders 250 Wingård, Gunnar 420, 421, 466 Winroth, Alfred 302 Wirsén, Carl David af 103, 110, 160–161, 353, 356 Wrangel, Carl Gustaf 72, 74, 75–80, 288, 416 Wrangel, F.U. 343 Wrangel, Sigrid 72, 75, 78–80 Young, Arthur 170 Zander, Gustaf 379 Zola, Émile 176, 193, 225–226, 311, 364–365 Zorn, Anders 186, 393, 470 Åhman, Svea 443

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SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHERS Numbers indicate page numbers, b = below, a = above, l = left, r = right. Adèle, K.u.K. Hof-Atelier 292 Albin 335 Anderson, Herman 397b, 402, 431, 452, 459, 470a, 476 Anderson, James 139, 140–141 Atelier Schaschek 348 Atget, Eugène 358–359 Björsell, Nils 254 Blomberg, Anton 378, 404–405, 427 Brunstedt, G.W. 58, 74br Carlheim-Gyllensköld, Vilhelm 460–461, 462 Curman, Carl 112–113 Dahllöf, Waldemar 353a Damgaard, Holger 208–209 Debenham 280a Eklund Studio 88, 263 Florman, Gösta 73, 74ar, 79, 142, 384–385 Franze, H. 303 Gabler 158-159 Gimberg, Carl Johan 18–19 Glas, M.S. 240–241 Hafnstaengel, Franz 119 Hamnqvist, Herman 386, 387, 397a, 410, 422 Hansen, Math:s 36, 46, 54 Hansen, Richard 153a Jacobsen, G.P. 223b

Jacobsson, Selma 28b, 30ar Jaeger, Johannes 14–15, 64–65, 126 Jaeger Studio 425 Jardin, C. & J. du 82 Johansson, Otto 380, 388, 399, 414, 415 Jonason, Aron 192, 243, 245b, 258, 336 Jørgensen, Olof W. 204–205 Kindahl, Augusta Front cover Klemming, F.G. 436–437 Knorring, Carolina 16 Knudsen, Claus 138b Larsson, M. 43 Larsson Studio 76 Lau, Wilhelm 157 Leclercq, Julien 333 Léon, Moyse & Lévy, Georges 32, 51, 120–121, 132, 161, 340, 357, 370b Lina Jonn Studio 346, 366–367, 368, 369, 373–374 Lindahl, Axel 63a Lundgren, John 230, 247, 250

Poignard, A. 155b Rafael-Rådberg, Erik 127, 154b, 155a, 277, 319, 322, 328, 329, 331b Reinhold, F.A. 10 Renard, Fredrik & Son 239b Reutlinger 314 Riise, Fred 222, 224a Roesler, Robert 104, 383 Root, Marcus Aurelius 225b Sandels Jr. 463, 490, 494–495 Schagerström, August Fredrik 46 Schmidmayr Haag, M. 375 Stæhr, Emil 211 Svensson, O. 256a Szacinski, L. 131 Titzenthaler, Waldemar 278, 345 Tunell, Herman 153b, 282 Türk 281 Uddgren, Gustaf 197, 198, 199

Malmberg, C.J. 22a, 28a, 33 Marcus, Samuel Moses 327 Marschalk, Max 274b Martin, Paul 295 Mårtensson, Jöns 350–351, 371

Valerius, Bertha 74al

Noack, Alfred 137

Zetterling, Augusta 78

Osti, Henri 40, 48, 52–53 Otto see Wegener, Otto

Åsberg, Sven 487

Wegener, Otto 118 Wester, Magnus 456, 468 Wisth, Edvard 77, 252–253, 264–265

Öhrwall, Hjalmar 66 Pauli, Georg 101 Pflaume & Co 266

505



WORKS OF STRINDBERG REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK The list is for general guidance. Specific English editions of Strindberg’s works have occasionally been given different titles. English translations of titles are given in parentheses. Those not in italics have not been published in English translation. Swedish alphabetical order is used: ‘å’, ‘ä’ and ‘ö’ come after ‘z’. Abu Casems tofflor (Abu Casem’s Slippers) Advent (Advent) Anno fyrtioåtta (Anno Forty-Eight) Antibarbarus (Antibarbarus) Bandet (The Bond) Bjälbo-Jarlen (Earl Birger of Bjälbo) Bland franska bönder (Among French Peasants) Blomstermålningar och djurstycken (Flower Paintings and Animal Pieces) Brott och brott (Crimes and Crimes) Brända tomten (The Burned House) Debet och kredit (Debit and Credit) Den fredlöse (The Outlaw) Den starkare (The Stronger) Det nya riket (The New State) Dikter på vers och prosa (Poems in Verse and Prose) Dödsdansen (The Dance of Death) En blå bok I–IV (A Blue Book I–IV) (‘The Blue Books’) En dåres försvarstal (A Madman’s Manifesto) Engelbrekt (Engelbrekt) Ensam (Alone) Erik XIV (Erik XIV) Ett drömspel (A Dreamplay) Fadren (The Father) Fagervik och Skamsund (Fair Haven and Foul Strand) Folkstaten (The Popular State) Folkungasagan (The Saga of the Folkungs) Fordringsägare (Creditors) Fritänkaren (The Free Thinker) Från Fjärdingen till Svartbäcken (From Fjärdingen to Svartbäcken)

Fröken Julie (Miss Julie) Första varningen (The First Warning) Gamla Stockholm (Old Stockholm) Giftas (Getting Married) Gillets hemlighet (The Secret of the Guild) Gustav Vasa (Gustav Vasa) Götiska rummen (The Gothic Rooms) Hamlet. Ett Minnesblad på årsdagen […] (Hamlet: An Anniversary Memorandum […]) Han och Hon (He and She) Hemsöborna (The Natives of Hemsö) Herr Bengts hustru (Sir Bengt’s Wife) Himmelrikets nycklar (The Keys of Heaven) Historiska miniatyrer (Historical Miniatures) I havsbandet (By the Open Sea) Inferno (Inferno) Inför döden (Facing Death) Introduction à une chimie unitaire (Introduction to a Unified Chemistry) I Rom (In Rome) Jardin des Plantes (Jardin des Plantes) Julius Caesar. Shakespeares Historiska Drama […] (Julius Caesar: Shakespeare’s Historical Drama […]) Karl XII (Charles XII) Kaspers Fet-Tisdag (Casper’s Shrove Tuesday) Klostret (The Cloister) Kristina (Queen Christina) Kronbruden (The Virgin Bride) Kulturhistoriska studier (Studies in the History of Civilisation) Legender (Legends) Leka med elden (Playing With Fire) Likt och olikt (One Thing and Another) Lycko-Pers resa (Lucky Per’s Journey) Maradörer (Marauders) Memorandum till Medlemmarne av Intima Teatern från Regissören (Memorandum to the Members of the Intimate Theatre from the Director) Midsommar (Midsummer) Moderskärlek (Motherly Love) Mäster Olof (Master Olof)

Nya svenska öden (New Swedish Destinies) Näktergalen i Wittenberg (The Nightingale of Wittenberg) Ordalek och småkonst (Word Play and Minor Art) Oväder (Thunder in the Air) Paria (Pariah) Pelikanen (The Pelican) Påsk (Easter) Religiös renässans (Religious Renaissance) Riksföreståndaren (The Regent) Röda rummet (The Red Room) Sagor (Tales) Samum (Simoon) Shakespeares Macbeth […] (Shakespeare’s Macbeth […]) Siste riddaren (The Last of the Knights) Skärkarlsliv (Life in the Skerries) Spöksonaten (The Ghost Sonata) Stora landsvägen (The Great Highway) Stormen (The Tempest) Svanevit (Swanwhite) Svarta fanor (Black Banners) Svarta handsken (The Black Glove) Svenska folket (The Swedish People) Svenska öden och äventyr (Swedish Destinies and Adventures) Sylva Sylvarum (Sylva Sylvarum) Syndabocken (The Scapegoat), Sömngångarnätter (Somnambulist Nights) Taklagsöl (The Roofing Ceremony) Tal till svenska nationen (Speeches to the Swedish Nation) Till Damaskus (To Damascus) Tjänstekvinnans son (The Son of a Servant) Tryckt och otryckt (Printed and Unprinted) Tsarens kurir (The Courier of the Tsar) Tschandala (Tschandala) Utopier i verkligheten (Real Utopias) Öppna Brev till Intima Teatern (Open Letters to the Intimate Theatre)

507



PICTURE SOURCES Numbers indicate page numbers, b = below, a = above, l = left, r = right. Bokförlaget Max Ström, Stockholm, privately owned 146–147, 384–385 Bonnier Archives, Stockholm 86a, 149, 183, 191, 213, 343b, 424b BPK Photo Agency, Berlin 298 Bukowskis, Stockholm 260–261 Centre for Business History/Arla, Stockholm 444–445 Getty Images, Dublin 225b, 283a Göteborg City Museum, Gothenburg 243 Hemmingsson, Per, August Strindberg som fotograf (1989) 470a IBL Bildbyrå/Roger-Viollet 32, 51, 120–121, 128–129, 132b, 150–151, 152, 154a, 161, 164–165, 167, 173, 193, 225a, 293, 296–297, 310, 312–313, 316–317, 318, 320–321, 323a, 324–325, 326a+b, 330, 334, 338–339, 340, 356, 358–359, 363, 365, 370b, 389, 407 IBL Bildbyrå/The Bridgeman Art Library 136, 137, 139, 140–141 IBL/Historisk bildbyrå 227, 228–229, 314 IBL/Victoria & Albert Museum 295

National Library of Sweden, Stockholm 12, 23, 24, 28a, 29, 30al+ar, 31, 33, 41, 42b, 43, 48, 49, 62, 63a+b, 66, 73, 74al+ar+bl, 80, 81, 87, 100, 101a, 108, 109, 114, 115, 124–125, 127, 130, 134, 135, 138b, 153a+b, 154b, 155a+b, 156, 157, 158–159, 160b, 166a+b, 168–169, 170, 172, 174–175, 176, 177, 180–181, 192, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199, 203, 214–215, 217, 220, 224a, 230, 232, 236–237, 250, 254, 259, 268, 269, 273a+b, 277, 282, 300, 305, 306, 308, 309, 319, 322, 328, 329, 331a+b, 335b, 342, 347, 348, 362a, 368, 369, 370a, 375, 381, 388, 396, 402, 420, 421, 424a, 426a+b, 435b, 447, 459, 460–461, 463, 467, 468, 469b, 476, 477a+b, 481, 484–485, 490, 494–495 Nordiska museet, Stockholm 13, 17a+b, 20, 25, 27, 30b, 38–39, 50, 52–53, 77, 79, 182, 190, 239b, 240–241, 252–253, 256–257x3, 262, 264–265, 266, 333, 337, 350–351, 366–367, 371, 387, 393, 413, 416b, 431, 432–433, 462, 471, 488, 493 Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, Oslo 119 Oslo City Museum, Oslo 131 Agneta Pauli’s Collection, Stockholm 101b, 336 Privately owned, Stockholm 89, 96, 99, 196, 353b, 379, 489

Kamerareportage, Gothenburg 258 Kossak, Ewa K., Irrande stjärna: berättelsen om den legendariska Dagny Juel, (orig. Polish edition 1973, Swedish translation by Christina Wollin, 1978) 406

Royal Dramatic Theatre’s Library and Archives, Stockholm 390–391, 454 Royal Library of Denmark, Copenhagen 83, 160a, 204–205, 208–209, 211, 212a+b, 214l, 218, 219, 221, 222, 223a+b, 224b, 315b

Landesarchiv Berlin 270–271, 272, 278, 279, 284–285 Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 56–57, 138a, 289, 290–291

Scanpix, Stockholm 349, 428–429 Scanpix/Corbis, Stockholm 449b Stockholm City Museum, Stockholm 8–9, 14–15, 16, 18–19, 34–35, 60–61, 64–65, 84–85, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94–95, 111, 112–113, 116–117, 235, 244, 263, 380, 398, 399, 400–401, 416a, 436–437,

Munch Museum, Oslo 276, 283b, 323b

453, 455, 491 Stockholm County Museum, Stockholm 200– 201 Stockholm Music and Theatre Museum, Stockholm 106–107, 110, 376–377, 392, 394, 395, 418–419, 423, 449a Strindberg Society, dep. National Library of Sweden 381 Strindbergsmuseet, Stockholm 10, 11, 22a+b, 28b, 36, 40a, 47, 54, 58, 68–69, 74br, 76, 78, 82, 86b, 104, 118, 122, 126b, 142, 144, 145, 166a, 179, 184a+b, 187x4, 188x4, 189, 206, 245, 246x3, 247, 267, 274a+b, 280a+b, 281, 286, 287, 292, 302, 303, 315a, 327, 335a, 344, 346, 352, 360, 372–373, 374, 383, 386, 397a+b, 404–405, 408, 410, 411, 412, 414, 415, 417, 422, 425, 427, 430, 434, 435a, 438, 439, 440–441, 442, 443, 446, 448, 450–451, 452, 456, 457, 458, 465, 466, 469a, 470b, 472–473, 475, 478–479, 482, 486, 487, 492 Sundsvalls museum, Sundsvall 242 Swedish National Maritime Museum, Stockholm 233, 248–249 Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology, Stockholm 354–355, 409 Swedish Railway Museum, Gävle 364 Uhl, Frida, Strindberg och hans andra hustru. II, Äktenskapet, translation from German to Swedish by Karin Boye (1934) 294, 304 Ullstein Bild, Berlin 133, 162, 163, 202, 275, 299, 301, 345 Ullstein Bild/Haeckel Archive, Berlin 55 Upplandsmuseet, Uppsala 40b, 44–45, 46 Uppsala University Library, Uppsala 102, 132a Västergötlands museum, Skara 353a Bengt Wanselius’ Collection, Stockholm 378 Kåa Wennberg’s Collection, Saltsjö-Boo 123 Wikipedia 216, 239a, 343a, 362b www.notrefamille.com, France 171

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SPECIAL THANKS TO Strindbergsmuseet/Erik Höök, the National Library of Sweden/Anna Höök/Andrea Davis-Kronlund, IBL/Historisk Bildbyrå/Lars Modie/Charlotta Jönsson, Nordiska museet/ Marie Tornehave/Jonas Nilsson, the Stockholm City Museum/Marianne Odelhall, the Royal Dramatic Theatre’s Library and Archives/Dag Kronlund, the Stockholm Music and Theatre Museum/Magnus Blomkvist, the Royal Library of Denmark, the Swedish National Maritime Museum, the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology, the Munch Museum, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, the Oslo City Museum, Landesarchiv Berlin, Agence Roger-Viollet. The author is also grateful for the grant he received for the project from the Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation.


Björn Meidal, Professor of Literature at Uppsala University in Sweden, is one of the world’s leading Strindberg scholars. He has participated in many research projects and has been Visiting Professor at a variety of institutions, including Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the University of Maryland in College Park and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.

Bengt Wanselius is well known for his photographs of theatre and dance; in his fifteen years as in-house photographer for the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm he has documented many Swedish productions and a large number visiting from abroad. He is also one of Sweden’s most experienced picture editors, and was awarded the prestigious August Prize for his substantial work, The Ingmar Bergman Archives.

Sarah Death has been translating the work of Swedish writers for over twenty years. She has twice won the triennial George Bernard Shaw Prize for translation from Swedish, and was awarded the Swedish Academy’s Translation Prize in 2008.


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