Preface to Miss Julie - Yavanika

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August Strindberg Preface to lfil. r I. rl tlSS f Ulle Idso rc4s-rstz Like the arts in general, the theatre has for a long time seemed to me a Biblia Pauperum, a picture Bible for those who cannot read, and the playrvright merely a lay preacher who hawks the latest ideas in popular fonn, so popular that the middle classes-the bulk of the audiences-can grasp thern rvithout racking their brains too much. That explains whv the theatre has alu'a)'s been an elen-rentary school for voungsters and the half-educated, and for women, who still retain a primitive capacitv for deceiving themselves and for letting themselves be deceived, that is, for succurnbing to illusions and responding hy,pnoticallv to the suggestions of the author. Consequently, now that the rudimentarv ancl undeveloped mental processes that operate in ihe realm of fantasy appear to be evolving to the level of reflection, research, and experimentation, I believe that the theatre, like religion, is about to be replaced as a dving institution for u'l.ros enjoyment u'e lack the necessary qualifications. Support for mv vierv is providcd bv the theatre crisis through rvhich all of Europe is now passing, and still rnore by the fact that in those highlv cultured lands u'hich have produced the finest minds of our tirne-England and Germanr'-the drama is dead, as for the rnost part are the other fine arts. C)ther countries, horve'"'cr, have thought to create a ne\\, drama bv filling the old forms u'ith nerv contents. But since there has not been enough time to popularize the new ideas, the public cannot understand them. And in the second place, controversy has so stirred up the public that thev can no longer look on with a pure and dispassionatc interest, especiallv rvhen the,v see their rnost cherished ideals assailed or hear an applauding or booing n-rajoritv openl,v excrcise its tyrannical power, as can happcn in the theatre. And in the third place, since the new forms for the neu' ideas have not been created, the nerv vn'ine has burst the old bottles. In the plav that follou's I have not tried to accomplish anything ne\l'- that is irnpossible. I have or-rlv tried to modenrize the form to satisy rvhat I believe up-to-date people expect and dernand of this art. And rvith that in mind I have seized upon-or let mvself be seized bv-a therne r.vhich ma,v be said to lie outside current partl' strife, since the question of being on the wav up or the n'av dou'n the social ladder, of being on the top or on the Ii'rorir N{lss lulie by ALrgust Strindberg, translated by Ii. NI. Sprinchorn. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company, 1961. Reprinted b1' pcrmission of Intext Eclucational Publishers, Scr:rnton, Pennsy'lr'ania. Rcliscd and expandecl for this edition by the trans' lator, this is thc onlv English translation of Strindberg's coniplete text. 564
t49-1912 ' a long time seemed to me a ro cannot read, and the playlatest ideas in popular forrn, of the audiences-can grasp fhat explains wh}, the theatre ngsters and the half-educated, racity for deceiving themselves or succumbing to illusions and he author. Consequently, now processes that operate in the rvel of reflection, research, and
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Page 7 and 8: ndinaia I rvoman, that stunted form
Page 9 and 10: naia August Strindberg >/l re highl
Page 11 and 12: dtndyta August Strindbery 577 bly i

Preface to Miss Julie - Yavanika

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