Strindbergs The Stronger Essay -- Strindberg Stronger Essays

Strindbergs The StrongerIn The Stronger Strindberg focuses upon the role and importance ofwomen at the turn of the 20th century. This is portrayed with aconversation of two women who have different lives and socialstatuses. Mrs. X is married and therefore socially stronger. Miss Y isunmarried and rather poignantly, doesnt speak.At the turn of the 20th century, women were seen as 2nd class citizensto men. However, this entire play is set in a womens caf whereStrindbergs purpose is to allow the two characters to fully readtheir regainings rather than be influenced and controlled by men. Sincethe play focuses upon the role and importance of marriage and family,the setting of Christmas is significant. It reinforces Mrs. Xs familyvalues and the power it gives her over Miss Y However, later on in theplay, the saturation of constant silence by Miss Y proves more powerfulthan Mrs Xs family values and the setting of Christmas is quiteforgotten.Strindberg uses a title and iodin letter as names for the charactersto emphasise the issue of marital status where the individuality ofthe two women isnt important. It is merely the title that defines theperson.We recognise stage directions as specify actions, usually just beforeor after speech and sometimes during a characters line. They can beused to emphasise a characters speech or to illustrate a certainemotion. This may hint at or reveal a characters personality, where acertain movement may show strength or weakness, particularly importantfor Miss Y who expresses herself solely through actions and facialexpressions.The stage directions in The stronger tell the audience about howstrong or weak a character is. For... ...e play, there are times when both characters are strongand weak. It is only at the end of the play where I feel that Mrs Xstrue strength is shown. She briefly concludes the argument and doesntappear to have any hard feelings towards Miss Y. She even thanks herfor the way she has influenced her family life . Mrs X represented the conventional women of Strindbergs time where her life revolved aroundher husband and family. This is completely the opposite for Miss Y whorepresented women wanting a change to the male-dominated world. Shedoesnt react to Mrs Xs buy at speeches about family or childrenand remains calm. She is more interested in her paper than what Mrs Xhas to say.Above all, I conclude that Miss Y is the stronger. This is becauseof her ability to not rise to Mrs Xs bait. She is strong in hersilence and never retaliates.