'The Stronger' written by August Strindberg is unusual in several respects. Only one character speaks while the other listens and reacts. The speaking character tells and interprets a narrative of events. The title of the play suggests that the events that are narrated constitute a character contest over which woman is the stronger.
Strindberg's approach used in the analysis would cover the discussion of gender roles, women's self-esteem, competition for males, women's friendships, ego style, and female psychology. 'The Stronger' has shown an enigmatic attraction in Strindberg's authorship in which the readers could see the co-existence, collision, conflict, and merge of different paradigms concerning sex, gender, and sexuality.
About the writer August Strindberg
August
Strindberg (1849-1912) August Strindberg is a Swedish playwright, novelist, and
short-story writer. He is highly respected for combining psychology and
accurate depiction of detail in creating a new kind of European drama. He is
noted for his dramatizations of the psychological and sexual problems within
and around family life. His chief works include The Father (1887), Miss Julie
(1888), Creditors (1888), A Dream Play (1902), and The Chost Sonata (1907).
"The Stronger" summary
The play is
a soliloquy in which Mrs. X only speaks and Miss Y responds with body language.
The play represents a triangular love among Mrs. X, Miss Y, and Bob (but Bob
never appears in the play) Mrs. X's husband, Bob and Miss Y were in love. Mrs.
X still fears that Miss Y and Bob will get romance by visiting secretly.
In the end,
if judging appearance, we find Miss Y is socially weaker while Mrs. X is
stronger because she has a home, husband, and children while Miss Y is lonely
and sitting alone in the café on Christmas Eve. Miss Y also seems stronger.
Once Mrs. X says that Miss Y is eating her inside. In this regard, Miss Y is
stronger in love with Bob.
The play is
set in the female restaurant where Miss Y is drinking beer. She is alone at the
festival, on Christmas Eve. In the meantime, Mrs. X enters the same restaurant
and disturbs Miss Y. Then Mrs. X shows a slipper decorated with tulips that she
has bought for her husband, Bob. Bob likes tulips in everything. She, insulting
Miss Y, says that on Christmas Eve, she should not stay alone but should
entertain her partners. She instructs her that it is her time to get married
and settle. She says that Bob does not love her anymore. Now, Mrs. X recalling
her Parish visit says that in the happiest movement, the Bridegroom had been
playing billiard while his bride read comics.
In this way,
she aims to compare Miss Y's loneliness with that bride. Now being proud, Mrs.
X requests her to forgive and forget her husband. She reveals that she also
forgives him. Mrs. X has also bought a toy pistol for her child. Mockingly, she
shoots Miss Y and Miss Y startles. On her frighten, she responds that she
should not be afraid because, in the place of Miss Y, she came as a villain to
steal Bob. Being jealous, she says that Bob does not love her anymore. If she
does not believe, she requests her to come home to see their love.
Now she
talks about her husband's physical structure. He is small but very handsome.
So, once they were in Norway, she says that many girls had loved him. As Miss Y
and Bob were in love, Miss Y would offer him tulips in everything. She would
decorate his slipper with tulip or buy him tulip decorated slipper that Mrs. X
had often noticed.
In fact,
Mrs. X hates tulips but to please Bob, she had bought a decorated tulip slipper
on Christmas Eve. Miss Y also hates saltwater in seas and lakes. So, to show
her hatred towards Miss y, Mrs. X has made a plan to visit saltwater, Malaren
lake with her husband. She reveals that to take her place and make her husband
happy, like Miss Y, she drinks chocolate, read her favorite authors 'book and
eat her favorite dishes.
However, she
has still doubt that she and her husband meet secretly. So, she says that she
is eating her inside. At last, she says that she will go home to love her
husband and also thanks her for teaching her husband to love.
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Frequently asked questions from "The Stronger" by August Strindberg
1. What is the history of the
relationships that have led to the scene between the two women?
Ans: The history of the relationship is that Mrs. Y is
the girlfriend of Bob while Mrs. X is the wife of Bob's wife.
2. Elaborate on the triangular
situation in the play.
Ans: The play represents a triangular situation in which
two actresses - one married, Mrs. X, and another unmarried, Miss Y. Miss Y was
Bob's ex-girlfriend. Similarly, Mrs. X has still feared that Miss Y and Bob
will get romance by visiting secretly.
3. How do you think Mrs. X won Bob
from Miss?
Ans: Mrs. X won Bob from Miss Y because on the great
festival, Christmas Eve, Miss Y is staying alone in the restaurant. To win the
heart of Bob, she did the same thing which Miss Y had done t the heart of Bob.
4. Why did Mrs. X fear Miss Y?
Ans: Mrs. X feared Mrs. Y because she was still single
and felt that she is in a relationship with her husband
5. Which of the two women is
stronger? Why?
Ans: At the end of judging, Mrs. X background, we find
Miss Y is weaker while Mrs. X Is stronger because she has her house, husband,
and children while Miss Y is sitting alone in the café on Christmas Eve.
6. How does Miss Y respond to Mrs. X
without using any words?
Ans: She responds to Mrs. X by laughing, nodding, and
looking scornfully
7. Why does the husband never appear
in the play?
Ans: The husband never appears in the play because the
playwright may want to make it a soliloquy and he only wants to show the
problem of female jealousy.
8. Narrate the Waitress's version of
the scene.
Ans: One day, on Christmas Eve, one girl was in a restaurant
having wine and after some time, another woman came and started talking. The
girl was sad and did not speak anything while another woman speaks alone. They
seem they are friends. The woman once did childish behavior by shooting the
girl with a toy pistol. I think that they have something problem because once I
heard," I hate you. I hate you" said the woman.
9. Why does Mrs. X use tulips on the
shoes, even though she hates the flowers?
Ans: Mrs. X uses tulips on the shoes even though she
hates tulip flowers because she wants to win the heart of her husband from his
beloved, Miss Y.
10. What is the significance of Mrs.
X's observation about Mrs. Y that she broke like a dry stalk"? And about
herself as the one who learned good lessons from her rival? What lessons did
she learn?
Ans: Mrs. X's observation about Mrs. Y that she broke
like a dry stalk is so significant because Miss Y's relationship with Bob is
broken up like a dry stalk. It is her age to get married and settle the life
but on Christmas Eve, she is sitting in the restaurant without a boyfriend.
Mrs. X learned good lessons from her rival to treat her husband with great
respect as Mrs. Y had treated him.
11. What is the nature and dynamics
of the relationship between Mrs. X and Mrs. Y?
Ans: The problem of Mrs. X is about her husband who had
had an affair with Miss Y. At present, from Mrs. X's utterances, we know that
Miss Y and her husband have become like friends, however, Mrs. X doubts Miss Y
and her husband.
12. Did Bob do the right thing by
marrying Mrs. X instead of Mrs. Y? Why or why not?
Ans: No, he did not. He should not have played to the
heart of Mrs. Y. Personally, I do not like to blame both of the female
characters. It is Bob giving her a big dream that may make Mrs. Y falls in love
with him. Males taking the help of lies and retention win the heart of girls
and after making sexual intercourse they leave them but a girl cannot forget
her past relationship with her boyfriend. So, in the play, Miss Y does not
forget Bob whom we know as she sits alone on Christmas Eve in the restaurant
without making a boyfriend.
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