Psychological Breakdown in Strindberg's The Father

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Psychological Breakdown in Strindberg's The Father *Works Cited Not Included In Strindberg's The Father, we witness a string of actions that brings a sane and happy man to the point of utter lunacy in the span of twenty-four hours. While I think the play as a whole is less convincing in terms of its naturalism (perhaps very much due to the way it immediately dates itself), it does very fluidly connect the actions bringing about this psychological breakdown. To begin, the Captain lives in a house surrounded by women, of whom as a race he is rather untrusting. The Captain's views on parental responsibility and paternity are made clear in the first three scenes of Act One. This is intelligent playwrighting in my opinion, even though I am unconvinced by the play as a whole, for the way the discussion is brought about is rather subtle. The action that brought this about was Happy's sleeping around with the kitchen help. Also made clear early on is Laura's desire for control of the fate of her daughter concerning her future (in terms of religion, career, and home). The first m...

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