Strindberg's "The Stronger"
In 'The Stronger' Strindberg focuses upon the role and importance of
women at the turn of the 20th century. This is portrayed through a
conversation of two women who have different lives and social
statuses. Mrs. X is married and therefore socially stronger. Miss Y is
unmarried and rather poignantly, doesn't speak.
At the turn of the 20th century, women were seen as 2nd class citizens
to men. However, this entire play is set in a women's café where
Strindberg's purpose is to allow the two characters to fully express
their feelings rather than be influenced and controlled by men. Since
the play focuses upon the role and importance of marriage and family,
the setting of Christmas is significant. It reinforces Mrs. X's family
values and the power it gives her over Miss Y However, later on in the
play, the strength of constant silence by Miss Y proves more powerful
than Mrs X's family values and the setting of Christmas is quite
forgotten.
Strindberg uses a title and single letter as names for the characters
to emphasise the issue of marital status where the individuality of
the two women isn't important. It is merely the title that defines the
person.
We recognise stage directions as defined actions, usually just before
or after speech and sometimes during a characters line. They can be
used to emphasise a characters speech or to illustrate a certain
emotion. This may hint at or reveal a characters personality, where a
certain movement may show strength or weakness, particularly important
for Miss Y who expresses herself solely through actions and facial
expressions.
The stage directions in 'The stronger' tell the audience about how
strong or weak a character is. For...
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...e play, there are times when both characters are strong
and weak. It is only at the end of the play where I feel that Mrs X's
true strength is shown. She briefly concludes the argument and doesn't
appear to have any hard feelings towards Miss Y. She even thanks her
for the way she has influenced her family life. Mrs X represented the
traditional women of Strindberg's time where her life revolved around
her husband and family. This is completely the opposite for Miss Y who
represented women wanting a change to the male-dominated world. She
doesn't react to Mrs X's patronising speeches about family or children
and remains calm. She is more interested in her paper than what Mrs X
has to say.
Above all, I conclude that Miss Y is 'the stronger'. This is because
of her ability to not rise to Mrs X's 'bait'. She is strong in her
silence and never retaliates.
emotional power over them. These men are infatuated with her because of her status in society.
has felt for so many years. Mason first presents her as a strong character by explaining
(Hurston 32) This shows a great strength in her character because even if Joe was not there for
Margaret is painted as a strong character from the very beginning. As Jessica Ray Lymberopoulos writes in her essay,
Within every woman exists multiple facets of the self. The artist and poet help her to keep dreaming and feeling while the crone serves as her intuition. The seductress keeps her in touch with the fountain of youth and the mother takes care to nurture, heal and protect. The saint is her conscience and moral compass who keeps her on the straight and narrow as far as possible. The warrior rises up in times of trouble and fights the good fight, risking everything to survive. The clown keeps her grounded and playful. The wife does what is good and right, she has the morals and good sense to see things through while the temptress is naughty and daring, planting seeds that come from
her will to survive by responding to the negativity that surrounded the lives of females, especially the
yet it has been a benefit rather than a bane to her soul, for by admitting her
point of sacrifice. And while the relevance of this theme to her character is clear,
ability to truly love someone. Her manipulative nature is very noticeable and she is an expert at
for standing up for what is right. She is thus a heroine in her own
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
... because of her beauty. And Morgan leafy while she might be an all-powerful sorcerer, she is a ultimately a manipulator and scapegoat.
...n what to do. The little things that they overlooked where the ones that they needed to sum up the crime. Because of their male ego being a superior than females they underestimated and judged the women wrongfully. Throughout the play one was able to see the feminine solidarity and their resistance remained unnoticeable by the men .If they would of team up and treated the women with a little more respect they could have sum up their crime much faster.
However, I do not think the play was in such a serious tone -sad, yes,
“Frailty thy name is woman,” is the summary of the feelings towards women for the entire play. Gertrude cannot spare any time to grieve over her late husband; she must find another man to rule the kingdom. That man turns out to be her late husband's bro...