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"THE FATHER."

Themes in August Strindberg's late 19th century play of marital discord. Role of chilldren in marriage.

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This study will discuss the themes of August Strindberg's play The Father from a philosophical point of view, focusing on the significance and meaning of those themes for both the original audience and today's audience. The narrow theme of the play is the doubt that men may have about their own role in the origins of their children--i.e., can a man ever be certain that he is the biological father of his child or children? In broader terms, however, the theme is the war which exists between the sexes, especially in a marriage and particularly in a marriage with children.
The theme of marital discord is certainly not a new one, although Strindberg makes it utterly fresh in this play with his unique characterization of the marital couple, the Captain and Laura.

Therefore, it seems that she would have long ago destroyed herhusband. LAURA: And the mother has no say in the matter? CAPTAIN: None at all. Philosophically, Strindberg seems to be saying that this marriage, asextreme as it is, is a fact of life, a portrait of the essence of the womanand the man as they interact in marriage, especially if there is a child atthe center of the gender struggle. If that is so, then Strindberg certainly saw the man as the ultimatevictim in the relationship, and woman as the ultimate victor. Thearrogance with which Adolf declares the law's support for his patriarchymakes clear to this reader that, indeed, Strindberg does not agree with theCaptain. Indeed, his problem is not whether the child ishis, but rather that he is in a struggle for power that he cannot win, atleast insofar as Strindberg has written him to lose. The Captain is far from being a feminist, but he iscertainly more open to a sharing of power than is the black widow-likeLaura. His time was not awash in psychological analysis asour time is, so that views of the play then were not as focused on thataspect of the play as views today would be. In that more social and moral context, the Captainwould be seen as a traditionalist who believed in the husband's andfather's ultimate power in the family, and the wife's and mother's ultimateacquiescence to the father. Six Plays of Strindberg. Can one say that Laura's story is a tragedy? There seems to beno indication that Laura has suddenly turned into a black widow, hadsuddenly become a cold-blooded schemer and destroyer. Because Adolf dies of a stroke at the end of theplay, it seems reasonable to conclude that the tragedy which most concernsStrindberg is that of the Captain. The significance of the child in this scenario is simply that sheserves as a prize over which the husband and wife struggle. Ironically, the Captain is introduced to this idea by another man whois trying to avoid responsibility by claiming that there is no proof thathe is the father of a child which is growing in the body of a young womanwith whom he had a single sexual encounter. One fascinating aspect of the issue at the heart of the play is thatthe question of the paternity of the child today could easily be determinedby DNA testing, a scientific advance which would put Adolf's mind to resttoday--unless of course he discovered he was not the father. The Captain seems to be alternately a fool (in not seeing what amonster Laura is long before the marriage has reached the late stage as itis portrayed in the play) and a knowing and willing partner in his owndestruction. Again, however, it is odd that such a confrontation did not takeplace earlier in this marriage, although one might make the argument thatthe basis of Adolf's fight is that now Bertha is old enough to leave thehouse and escape the influence of the women in the house. Laura may indeed be a simple woman, even stupid in terms of formaleducation, but there is no doubt in her mind that she as a woman is morepowerful than men in the gender war, and especially in a marriage in whicha child is present. He barely protests even when he fullydiscovers that he is in the straitjacket, but, instead, cracks pitifuljokes about his situation, as when Laura asks him to give her his hand: "Myhand! 7-57.----------------------- 11 At one point, she says to her husband, "I have neverbeen able to look at a man without feeling myself his superior." To thisher husband meekly responds, "One day you may meet your master--and you'llnever forget it" (28). The question is whether Strindberg is suggesting that Laura is tosome degree justified in her actions against her husband because of herhusband's attitude and because of the law which supports that attitude. In Strindberg's time, on the other hand, the focus was from moresocial and moral positions. The attitude of both husband and wife seem to represent two positionsof acceptance of this dreadful reality in which the woman dominates and theman ends destroyed. In other words, the audience then would likelyhave seen the conflict not in terms of the psychological "problems" of thefamily, but rather in terms of the family's reflection of social standards,or the lack thereof. Unlike the young man whointroduced the idea to him, Adolf would love to know that the child isindeed his. The significance and meaning of this theme for the audience ofStrindberg's time (late 19th century) are inevitably different than theyare for an audience today, over a century later. However, Adolf seizes on thisnotion as if it were a sinking ship which would take him to his destructionand put him out of his misery in the marriage. Work CitedStrindberg, August. Still, even ifhe were the father, as seems the case, he would still be faced with thelosing battle with Laura. He ishardly the "Captain" of his soul or destiny but instead is a helplessvictim in the marriage. This convention is somewhat skewed by the Captain's apparent beliefthat there should be a "joint account" (55) of sorts in the marriage, ameasure of cooperation. In other words, the victory of Laura overAdolf is blessed by God, or at least by fate. Even moreimportant than her animal-like lack of self-consciousness is her apparentlack of conscience, or feelings of regret, compared to the hystericalresponses of the Captain to his situation. For the better part of the play as well asof the marriage, Strindberg clearly means the Captain to represent thepatriarchal man/husband/father who believes he should have power over thewoman/wife/mother: CAPTAIN: According to the law as it now stands, children are brought up in their father's faith. Her very final words in the play show that she has indeed won thewar with her husband for the power over their daughter: "My child! It is likely thatStrindberg is suggesting that Laura would be "fascinated" if she did meet aman superior to herself, but she does not expect such an event to occur. Clearly, these roles are radically reversed in the marriage of theCaptain and Laura. Itwas the era of Victorian standards, not a time in which women and wivesbehaved as if they lived according to the rules of the jungle. Today an audience would inevitably see the play in the context offamily dysfunction and would likely be thinking that these people shouldhave long ago gone into family therapy together to work on thepsychological sources of their many and profound problems. When you have sold something, you don't expect to get it back and keep the money too (16). . Audiences in Strindberg's time might have beenscandalized by the ruthlessness of Laura and even by the self-destructiveness of the Captain, but it is less likely that any audiencetoday would be so scandalized, although this marriage will always bedisturbing because of its blatant unhealthiness. The mother, on the otherhand, has no doubt that the child is hers, even if she is uncertain aboutthe identity of the father. Hardly, for she getsexactly what she wants, in its most extreme form, and seems less thangrieved by his death. In part, thisconclusion is justified because of the heightened awareness of the Captainwith respect to his destruction, and Laura's relative lack of self-awareness with respect to her destruction of the Captain. It is a gloomy fate,and it is clear that the author has a very pessimistic view of the fairnessof marriage and parenthood. In any case, Laura responds, "That will befascinating" (28). She is trying to control the men around her to theend of the play. CAPTAIN: None whatever. She is a cold-blooded devourer of her husband,which certainly must have disturbed audiences in Strindberg's own time. In any case, Strindberg does seem to make clear that if the managrees to remain a child in the marriage, if he agrees to let the wifecontrol the marriage and the child or children, then she will not feelthreatened by him and will let him remain as he is.In such a philosophical scenario, the Captain is destroyed because he didfight back, however ineffectually, and at least tried to impose his will onLaura and on the destiny of their child. As Laura herself states early in the play, she has no doubt that sheis superior to the Captain, and in fact to every man she has ever met. Today's audiences havesimply been exposed to too many bizarre marriages and too much unhealthyhuman behavior to be shocked by Strindberg's play. Instead, itwas expected that the wife had the inferior role in the marriage and wouldbow to the demands of the husband. This is an odd statement, for nowhere else in the playdoes Laura show any interest for anything aside from destroying her husbandand gaining (or maintaining) control over her daughter. The fact that their daughter is essentially a cipher in the playshows that Strindberg is far more interested in the philosophy of marriagethan in the philosophy of parenthood. Which you have bound behind my back. At the same time, however, it is important to note that in thephilosophy of marriage presented by Strindberg in this play, the Captainmay offer some sign of being a progressive man, but it only comes when heis on the brink of destruction. Inbroader terms, however, the theme is the war which exists between thesexes, especially in a marriage and particularly in a marriage withchildren. . Is Strindberg suggesting that there is indeed some self-destructiveaspect to a man's agreeing to marry? Even after her dying husband has found comfort not in herarms but on the nurse's lap, even after Adolf has expired, Laura is notweeping with regret but is instead critiquing the final words of thedoctor. In addition, because the focus of the marital battle is over thechild Bertha and who will control her future, it would seem that theantipathies between the mother and father would have broken into outrightgender war long before the girl had reached her late teens. He seems to haveaccepted that Laura is indeed superior to him and that there is little ornothing he can do about it, despite his claims that he wants to save hisdaughter from Laura and her mother and the other women in the house. Thereis some subterfuge involved in getting the Captain into a straitjacket, butrealistically he must have a fairly decent idea of what is happening tohim, yet he does nothing about it. The nature of the relationship between the Captain and Lauramust be seen as a sign of Strindberg's vision of the fundamental roles ofmarriage, of man and woman, of father and mother. This philosophy of marriage is a dark one, one which ends in tragedyfor the Captain, whatever the future holds for Laura and Bertha and thesecondary characters. In such a conventional scenario, the childwould be expected to do what the father intended. The heart of this philosophy is to be found in the body of the woman.Yes, the play explores the gender war in a number of different ways, butthe root of the problem for the Captain and for all men is that they cannotbe absolutely utterly certain that the child or children of their marriageare the result of their own genetic contribution. Whatever ambiguities might be suggested by the playwright withrespect to the Captain's role in the marriage, there is no ambiguitywhatsoever in Laura's role. The only shock today might be that these two people had not reachedthis critical juncture far sooner in their long marriage. There is no sign in the play that the Captain is referring to himselfin some stronger state. The narrow theme of the play is the doubt that men may have abouttheir own role in the origins of their children--i.e., can a man ever becertain that he is the biological father of his child or children? Laura, on the other hand, behaves like a black widow spider,devouring her mate after he has served the purpose of giving her offspring.She seems stupid at times (as when the doctor is explaining therepercussions of her plan to her), but her primary trait is her bull-likedetermination to destroy her husband and win complete control over theirdaughter and her upbringing, education, and career. Nevertheless, again, Strindberg's play remains unique, at least tothis reader, in terms of the cold-hearted ruthlessness of Laura indestroying the Captain, and in terms of the reckless willingness of theCaptain to participate in his own literal destruction. Adolf certainly is suffering from what is happening tohim as his wife schemes against him, but he does little to fight whatappears to strike him as his inevitable destruction. Adolf goes on to show that,despite his later talk, he does not really believe in a cooperativemarriage at all, pointing out that when father and mother disagree on amatter involving their child, the law says that the husband's will shalltriumph. In return the husband supports her and her children LAURA: So she has no rights over her own child? This study will discuss the themes of August Strindberg's play TheFather from a philosophical point of view, focusing on the significance andmeaning of those themes for both the original audience and today'saudience. . Thedoctor and pastor offer little protest to her destruction of Adolf,suggesting again that the author of this play holds that women do indeedhold all the cards in this marriage and, one might assume, in mostmarriages. Strindberg's play was seenas both dark and groundbreaking in his time, for the gloomy ending and forthe harsh light he shone on his two main characters' flaws and theirnightmarish marriage. At the same time, it seems unlikely that the playwright wouldcondone what Laura does to her husband, undermining his career andultimately causing his death. Or is it more that a man is destinedfor both marriage and the destruction which comes with it? The philosophy of marriage portrayed in this play suggests thatStrindberg was very skeptical if not wholly pessimistic about thatinstitution. My ownchild!" And then, if there is any doubt that this was the foreordainedoutcome of the marital struggle, Strindberg finishes off the play with theword of the pastor: "Amen" (57). The specificsof the struggle over the girl's fate are quickly dealt with and discarded.We are told that the women in the house and family want her to pursue a"patchwork" (15) of destinies, while Adolf wants to get her away from thewomen in the household so that she can be a teacher and self-reliant (15).However, these specifics are not mentioned again, and the play settles intothe war between husband and wife. She sells her birthright by legal contract and surrenders all her rights. In other words, if Strindberg is indeed trying to show marriage as hesees it, at its worst and most exaggerated, then the lack of humanconscience in Laura, and the weakness of Captain Adolf in the face ofLaura's ruthlessness, must be taken as the author's view of the basiccomponents of the woman and man in marriage. In fact, Captain Adolf does seem to be at least partially asmentally unstable as Laura tries to depict him to other characters. The theme of marital discord is certainly not a new one, althoughStrindberg makes it utterly fresh in this play with his uniquecharacterization of the marital couple, the Captain and Laura. " (56). Strindberg clearly means this exchange to expose the outrageousarrogance and sexism of Adolf's position. Garden City, NY:Doubleday Anchor, 1955. The war of the sexes is his concern,specifically the marital battleground.

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