DREAM REALITY:

AUGUST STRINDBERG'S DEVELOPMENT OF THE

DREAM FORM IN THE GHOST SONATA

by

Per Magnus Palm B.A., University of Minnesota, 1969

A Thesis Submitted i n P a r t i a l Fulfilment The Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

i n the Programme of

Comparative L i t e r a t u r e

We accept th i s thesis as conforming to the required standard

The University of B r i t i s h Columbia August, 1973

In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r

an advanced degree a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C olumbia, I agree t h a t

the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and s t u d y .

I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s

f o r s c h o l a r l y p urposes may be g r a n t e d by the Head o f my Department o r

by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n

o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l n o t be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my

w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n .

$XP£SSK396CXX Programme of Comparative Literature

The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada

Date September 6, 1973

i i

ABSTRACT

The following thesis i s an examination into August

Strindberg's mode of dramatic expression following his

so-called " n a t u r a l i s t i c " phase. This study w i l l focus

on Strindberg's means of expressing his subjective v i s i o n

of the world around him as i t i s developed i n one of his

l a s t plays, The Ghost Sonata,(1907).

F i r s t , we w i l l view the f a i l u r e of naturalism as

i t applies to Strindberg's dramatic objectives; for

naturalism as prescribed by Zola proved to be a too re­

s t r i c t i v e form of poetic expression, l i m i t i n g the a r t i s t

to the presentation of o b j e c t i v e l y v e r i f i a b l e external

realism. Strindberg sought to explore the r e a l i t y of

the i n t e r n a l world, or l i f e as i t a f f e c t s the very soul

of the dramatist. This he accomplished through the

creation of the dramatic dream form where v i s i o n s and

hal l u c i n a t i o n s merge with past and present objective

events into a world of psychological r e a l i t y . The form

and techniques for creating such ha l l u c i n a t o r y v i s i o n s

of r e a l i t y are not new, but a fusion of these into a

sin g l e dramatic work has been of seminal influence i n

20th century drama.

Second, we w i l l turn to Strindberg's creative

process which bears a remarkable s i m i l a r i t y to Freud's

i i i

e x p l i c a t i o n of the nature of the "dream-work" i n

Traumdeutuns. Furthermore, the dream form of The Ghost

Sonata employs the v a r i o u s techniques t h a t comprise the

v a r i o u s stages of the dream-work. But these techniques

a r e p a r a l l e l to c e r t a i n l i t e r a r y developments of which

S t r i n d b e r g was aware and consequently on which he molded

h i s work. T h i s becomes the b a s i s f o r the t h i r d a r e a of

examination which covers the n a t u r a l i s t i c , s y m b o l i s t i c

and s u r r e a l i s t i c techniques as they a r e a p p l i e d to the

s t r u c t u r e of The Ghost Sonata.

The c o n c l u s i o n of t h i s examination demonstrates :

S t r i n d b e r g ' s p e r f e c t f u s i o n of these p r e v i o u s l y e s t a b ­

l i s h e d l i t e r a r y techniques i n t o the dream-form. Even

though none of the s e p a r a t e e n t i t i e s can be a t t r i b u t e d

to S t r i n d b e r g * s c r e a t i v e i n n o v a t i o n s ; the use, a d a p t i o n ,

expansion and f u s i o n of these techniques i n t o the dream-

form serve admirably as a p r o j e c t i o n of the a r t i s t ' s

p e r s o n a l v i s i o n of l i f e i n t o dramatic form.

i v

Table of Contents

Chapter One: The Fa i l u r e of Naturalism.....*. 2

Chapter Two: The World of Dreams and Distortions..„. „.18

Chapter Three: The Search f o r New Techniques.. .36

Chapter Four: Inside the Metaphorical House O £ Dr e a m S « . e . . e . e e . . o . . e o e e e e o o o e . » o . o « . 4 7

Chapter Five: C o n c l u s i o n . • « e o « « o « . . . o . . . . . . o • • o « » • . o o . 6 5

F O O t n O t e S . • e » . e . s . . . » « . . « . . . « o o . . e e e e . e o e e e . . . . e » e e » . o 6 8

Bibliography o • e » . . . . . . e . . . . . . . e . . . . » • » . . e o . . . . . . . . 74

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"Hallucinations, fantasies dreams, are a l l very r e a l to me. If I see my p i l l o w assume various human forms, then those forms are there; and i f someone t e l l s me that they ex i s t only (I) i n my imagination, then I say, Only IJ What my inner eye sees i s more important to me."

(August Strindberg i n l e t t e r to Torsten Hedlund, July, 1,896)

"as f a r as The Ghost Sonata i s concerned, don't ask me what i t i s about. Discretion, s ' i l vous p l a ^ t l One enters a world of intimations where one expresses oneself i n h a l f ­tones and with a soft pedal, since one i s ashamed to be a human being."

(August Strindberg i n l e t t e r to Emil Schering, A p r i l 7, 1907)

-2-

Chapter One: The F a i l u r e of Naturalism

In the 1880's Strindberg embraced the new l i t e r a r y

movement--Naturalism--in r e v o l t against the stagnation

of the conservative European theater. In retrospect

Strindberg i n his Open Letter to the Intimate Theater

t e l l s of the structure imposed upon the playwrights:

When anyone i n the 1860's and 1870's sub­mitted a f u l l length play to the Royal Theater, he had to observe the following requirements i f he were to get i t performed. The play should preferably have f i v e acts, each act should be approximately twenty-four sheets long, or, i n a l l , 5 x 24 = 120 f o l i o pages. The d i v i s i o n into scene was not ap­preciated and was considered a weakness. Every act should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The end of an act should be the place for applause, which was aroused by an o r a t o r i c a l f i g u r e , and, i f the play was i n blank verse, the l a s t two l i n e s should rhyme. Within the plays were "numbers" for the actor which were c a l l e d "scenes"; the solioquy or monologue was permitted and frequently was the high spot or climax; a longer emotion­a l outburst or a speech of condemnation or an exposure was almost necessary; one could even r e l a t e something--a dream, an anecdote, an event.1

Strindberg r e v o l t s against these s t r i c t u r e s imposed by

the Swedish, or for that matter, the e n t i r e European

Boulevard theater establishment and becomes a so-called

" n a t u r a l i s t i c " w r i t e r . The l a b e l " n a t u r a l i s t i c " i s

somewhat misleading for i t suggests adherence to the

French school of naturalism. Though Strindberg was an

-3-

a d m i r e r o f Z o l a and h i s a i m s , he was n o t a l w a y s a b l e t o

f o l l o w t h e l i m i t a t i o n s o f " p h o t o g r a p h i c d e t a i l " and

" s c i e n t i f i c o b j e c t i v i t y " , h e n c e h i s drama f a l l s s h o r t o f

t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f n a t u r a l i s t i c drama a s s e t down by

Zola„^--witness t h e r e s e r v a t i o n s Z o l a h a s a b o u t S t r i n d b e r g ' s

" n a t u r a l i s t i c " a t t e m p t s i n The F a t h e r :

Pour etre franc, des raccourcis d'analyse m'y genent un peu. Vous savez peut-etre que je ne suis pas pour 1'abstraction. J'aime que les personnages aient un etat c i v i l complet, qu'on les coudoie, q u ' i l s trempent dans notre a i r . Et votre capitaine qui n'a meme de nom, vos autres personnages qui sont presque des etres de raison, ne me donnent pas de l a v i e l a sensation complete que j e demande. Mais i l y a certainement l a , entre vous et moi, une question de race. T e l l e qu'elle est, je le repe*te ? votre piece est une des rares oeuvres dramatzques qui m'aient profoundement remue".3

( l e t t e r 14 December, 1887)

Zola i n the Preface to Therese Raquin i n writing

about the break with the established dramatic forms states:

" I I ne d o i t plus y avoir d'ecole, plus de formule, plus

de pontife d'aucune sorte. " (25 July, 1873)^ However,

i t was not long before Zola had exchanged the formula of

the "well-made play" for his new and equally s t r i c t creed

of naturalism. Even though Strindberg was sympathetic

toward Zola and his followers, he was not prepared to

exchange one l i m i t i n g form for another equally l i m i t i n g form.

-4-

The i n f l u e n c e of Z o l a ' s t h e o r e t i c a l w r i t i n g s ,

e s p e c i a l l y Le n a t u r a l i s m e au t h e a t r e , on S t r i n d b e r g has

been examined by B. G. Madsen i n S t r i n d b e r g ' s N a t u r a l i s t i c

T h e a t r e . In i t Madsen s t u d i e s the n a t u r a l i s t i c p r i n c i p l e s

e s t a b l i s h e d by Z o l a and t h e i r employment by S t r i n d b e r g

i n the s o - c a l l e d " n a t u r a l i s t i c " p l a y s . Madsen l a y s

down a u s e a b l e d e f i n i t i o n of n a t u r a l i s m as being a

" r e a l i s t i c l i t e r a t u r e w i t h s c i e n t i f i c p r e t e n s i o n s . M o r e

s p e c i f i c a l l y , a c c o r d i n g to Zo l a ' s d e f i n i t i o n of n a t u r a l i s m

the d r a m a t i s t must observe r e a l i t y and d e p i c t l i f e as i t

i s through c a r e f u l l y documented means. Much l i k e the

s c i e n t i s t , the w r i t e r must abandon a b s t r a c t i o n f o r

r e a l i t i e s and r e p l a c e ready-made formula w i t h v i g o r o u s

a n a l y s i s . In order t o make the l i v e s of the c h a r a c t e r s

p o r t r a y e d i n drama s c i e n t i f i c a l l y v a l i d the n a t u r a l i s t

employs the r e s u l t s of p h y s i o l o g i c a l and p s y c h o l o g i c a l

r e s e a r c h . Hence i n the p o r t r a y a l of c h a r a c t e r s the

author must p o i n t out how c h a r a c t e r i s determined by the

f o r c e s of h e r e d i t y and environment. In a d d i t i o n to the

p s y c h o l o g i c a l p o r t r a y a l of c h a r a c t e r Z o l a c a l l e d f o r the

p r e s e n t a t i o n of r e a l i s t i c decor, s i m p l i c i t y of s t r u c t u r e ,

and grand c o n f l i c t s . He a l s o c a l l e d f o r n a t u r a l n e s s

of s t a g i n g , a c t i n g and j d i c t i o n . T h i s became the b a s i s

f o r Z o l a ' s s o - c a l l e d " n o u v e l l e formule" which Madsen has

- 5 -

so a p t l y demonstrated to r e s t on the p r i n c i p l e of

f a i r e v r a i . f a i r e grand and f a i r e s i m p l e . ^

Z o l a ' s determinism i s based on the p o s i t i v i s t i c

ideas s e t f o r t h i n Taine's I n t r o d u c t i o n a 1 1 h i s t o i r e

de l a l i t t e r a t u r e a n g l a i s e where the i n f l u e n c i n g f a c t o r s

i n a l i t e r a r y work of a r t a r e r a c e , m i l i e u and moment. 7

T h i s concept of s c i e n t i f i c determinism Z o l a sought to

a p p l y to the t h e a t e r . The author's view of the n a t u r e

of e x p e r i e n c e should be i n accord w i t h s c i e n t i f i c p r i n ­

c i p l e s so t h a t the p o r t r a y a l of c h a r a c t e r s and s i t u a t i o n s

i s not o n l y a c c u r a t e i n e x t e r n a l appearance--photographic

r e a l i s m - - b u t a l s o r e f l e c t s and r e v e a l s a p a t t e r n of

i d e a s - - i n t h i s case a s c i e n t i f i c t heory or law--which

c o n t r o l s i t s a c t i o n s . In a sense n a t u r a l i s m i n the

t h e a t e r was intended to be an almost c l i n i c a l p o r t r a y a l

of man as he responds to predetermined f o r c e s as based

on s c i e n t i f i c p r i n c i p l e s and o b s e r v a t i o n s . Thus one of

the c h i e f aims of n a t u r a l i s m i s the d e p i c t i o n of t h a t

which i s , i . e . , to observe and r e p o r t the " s c i e n t i f i c "

t r u t h .

Though n a t u r a l i s m as e n v i s i o n e d by Z o l a emphasized

the p o r t r a y a l of s c i e n t i f i c and photographic t r u t h , i t

stops s h o r t of the l o g i c a l c o n t i n u a t i o n of s c i e n t i f i c

i n q u i r y i n t o an even deeper e x p l o r a t i o n of the t r u t h .

E s s e n t i a l l y the ever-widening study of t r u t h would take

-6-

i n t o account s u b j e c t i v e as w e l l as o b j e c t i v e a s p e c t s of

an i n q u i r y . Such continued p r o b i n g , as p o i n t e d out by

M a r t i n E s s l i n ^ would i n c l u d e the v e r y nature of our

perceptions--whether o b j e c t i v e or s u b j e c t i v e — t h e v e r y

base upon which any study of r e a l i t y i s b u i l t . These

c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , though the l o g i c a l consequence of a creed

which promised t r u t h f u l n e s s and a c c u r a c y of o b s e r v a t i o n ,

were o u t s i d e the scope of n a t u r a l i s m . A f t e r a l l , t o

p r o f e s s a creed of o b j e c t i v i t y and then to conclude by

s t u d y i n g the s u b j e c t i v e n a t u r e of an " o b j e c t i v e " author

would appear to be q u i t e a c o n t r a d i c t i o n , though i n f a c t

i t i s the l o g i c a l consequence. In f a c t Z o l a h i m s e l f

has s t a t e d : " I I e s t c e r t a i n qu'un oeuvre ne s e r a jamais

qu'un c o i n de l a n a t u r e vu a t r a v e r s un temperament."^ Thus r e v o l t a g a i n s t the c u r r e n t n a t u r a l i s t i c form

of e x p r e s s i o n became S t r i n d b e r g ' s s t r u g g l e , f o r h i s

temperament was unable to accomodate i t s e l f t o the r e ­

s t r i c t i o n s of n a t u r a l i s m . Yet t h i s i s not t o say t h a t

he i s a form-smasher s e t out to d e s t r o y the v e r y

f o u n d a t i o n s the n a t u r a l i s t i c t h e a t e r was b u i l t on.

S t r i n d b e r g merely attempted to r e v i t a l i z e drama by aban-

oning l i m i t a t i o n s a f t e r a whole g e n e r a t i o n of d r a m a t i s t s ,

experimenting with n a t u r a l i s m and r e a l i s m on the stage,

had s t e e r e d the dramatic form i n t o a mode l i m i t e d t o the

grayness of s m a l l mimetic a c t i o n s . The n a t u r a l i s t i c

- 7 -

drama of the 1880's was a n t i - t h e a t r i c a l i n t h a t i t

focused more and more on the c r e a t i o n of the i l l u s i o n

of r e a l i t y and on the adherence to s c i e n t i f i c p r i n c i p l e s

w h i l e r e s t r i c t i n g the f r e e f l o w of f a n t a s y and i l l u s i o n

which had f o r c e n t u r i e s been a mainstay of the t h e a t r i c a l

t r a d i t i o n .

P&r L a g e r k v i s t i n an e a r l y essay, "Modern Th e a t e r :

P o i n t s of View and A t t a c k " , attempts to come to g r i p s

w i t h and e x p l a i n the s i g n i f i c a n c e and impact of S t r i n d b e r g

on modern drama. He s t a t e s :

And i t i s a f a c t t h a t he has meant the r e ­newal of the modern drama, and thereby a l s o the g r a d u a l renewal of the t h e a t e r . I t i s from him and through him t h a t n a t u r a l i s m r e c e i v e d the c r i t i c a l blow, even i f , moreover, i t i s a l s o S t r i n d b e r g who gave n a t u r a l i s m i t s most i n t e n s e dramatic works. I f one wishes to understand the d i r e c t i o n i n which the modern t h e a t e r i s a c t u a l l y s t r i v i n g and the l i n e of development i t w i l l p r o b a b l y f o l l o w , i t i s c e r t a i n l y wise to t u r n to him f i r s t of all.l°

B r i e f l y I w i l l r e c a p i t u l a t e some of L a g e r k v i s t ' s

o b s e r v a t i o n s which w i l l s e r v e as a base f o r the d i r e c t i o n

taken by the f o l l o w i n g d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n of The Ghost

Sonata. F i r s t of a l l , the t h e a t e r i s perhaps the most

c o n s e r v a t i v e of a l l the a r t forms, and p l a c e s much

emphasis on the p r e s e r v a t i o n of t r a d i t i o n . I t was not

without a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount of f r i c t i o n t h a t the

" n a t u r a l i s t s " became accepted on the s t a g e . Granted the

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n a t u r a l i s t i c s c h o o l d i d much to implement change i n

the a r t of the t h e a t e r , but t h a t i s not to say n a t u r a l i s m

was s u i t e d f o r the t h e a t e r . L a g e r k v i s t argued, and

c o r r e c t l y so, t h a t n a t u r a l i s m though i n harmony w i t h

e x t e r n a l r e a l i t y was not a n a t u r a l a l l y of the t h e a t e r :

" f o r what i s r i g h t and n a t u r a l i n the t h e a t e r . . i s un­

n a t u r a l and a r t i f i c i a l o u t s i d e i t . " 1 ^ - The n a t u r a l i s t s

were masters i n the s t u d i e d a r t of i l l u s i o n , i n a drama

where the f o u r t h w a l l had been removed so as to g i v e the

i l l u s i o n of " r e a l i t y " . However c l o s e the n a t u r a l i s t s

may have come to v e r i s i m i l i t u d e , a b a s i c f a c t of drama

remains, the f o u r t h w a l l i s not t h e r e and one i s p l a y i n g

to an audience. N a t u r a l i s m i f persued to the l o g i c a l

extreme would have denied the v e r y essence of the t h e a t e r - -

the p l a y i n g to an audience. T h i s i s a d i s t o r t i o n and

c o r r u p t i o n of drama f o r " n a t u r a l i s m on the stage means,

i n s h o r t , a d e n i a l t h a t t h e a t e r ought to be t h e a t e r " ! 2

when by t r a d i t i o n the t h e a t e r "was no s t r u c t u r e designed

f o r the e x p o s i t i o n of a h a r s h and i n h i b i t e d r e a l i s t i c s t o r y ,

but r a t h e r f o r the f r e e p l a y of the f a n t a s y , f o r m a g n i f i ­

cent p a s s i o n , sweet p l e a s u r e , f o r r e c k l e s s romance, or

c l a s s i c a l l y heightened i d e a l i t y - - f o r a l i t t l e of every­

t h i n g , not merely the even grayness of everyday l i f e . 13

G r e a t e r p r o p o r t i o n s and more s p l e n d i d forms."

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The crux of Lagerkvist's essay, and a point to

which he returns again and again, i s that naturalism i s

a n t i - t h e a t r i c a l and r e s t r i c t i v e , i n short, wholly un-

suited as a base upon which modern drama can be b u i l t

and continue to f l o u r i s h . On t h i s point Lagerkvist has

his own row to hoe for he advocates a r e v i v a l of the

" r i c h and d i v e r s i f i e d " ^ theater which flourished i n the

Middle Ages. For Lagerkvist the n a t u r a l i s t i c theater

lacks the "richness of p o s s i b i l i t i e s " ^ since i t i s re­

s t r i c t e d to the "anxious a r t of il l u s i o n . " 1 6 , Granted,

Lagerkvist's outright condemnation of naturalism f a i l s

to account for such a genius as Ibsen who with the creation

of his social'plays (1870's and 1880's) achieved a height

i n naturalism which, though frequently imitated, has not

been surpassed. But f a i l i n g the creativeness of an Ibsen,

naturalism, i n a s t r i c t sense of the word, could go no

further--to s t r i k e out i n another d i r e c t i o n became a

necessity i f the art of the theater was to remain a

v i a b l e imaginative mode of expression. This was to be

Strindberg*s undertaking.

As early as 1889 Strindberg i n an essay, "Om modernt

drama och modern teater", has pointed out the d i f f e r e n c e

between the great ("den stora") and the l i t t l e Ct ien l i l l a

konsten") naturalism.* 7 According to Strindberg, Zola,

- 1 0 -

and l a t e r H e n r i Becque's Les Corbeau (1882) was h a i l e d

as another m i l e s t o n e i n n a t u r a l i s m . But S t r i n d b e r g i s

q u i c k to note t h a t Becque's work i s not a " s l i c e of

n a t u r e seen through a temperament"^ f o r the temperament

i s l a c k i n g . N a t u r a l i s m has here degenerated to photo-1 Q

graphy where even a "dust p a r t i c l e on the camera lens"- 1

i s i n c l u d e d to the e x c l u s i o n of the l a r g e r p i c t u r e of l i f e .

F or S t r i n d b e r g n a t u r a l i s m should be more than the p r e ­

s e n t a t i o n of minute and a c c u r a t e d e t a i l s such as a speck

of d u s t ; i t should be concerned w i t h s e e k i n g out l i f e ' s 20

meaningful m o t i f s and p r e s e n t i n g them i n dramatic form.

As a r e s u l t S t r i n d b e r g pushed f u r t h e r than anyone

e l s e the s t r i c k ^ r e q u i r e m e n t s of the n a t u r a l i s t i c method,

not o n l y f o r the t h e a t r i c a l or a e s t h e t i c reasons, but

more as a p e r s o n a l i n d u l g e n c e of p r o j e c t i n g i n t o drama

h i s s u b j e c t i v e i n n e r view of l i f e as i t a f f e c t e d h i s p e r ­

s o n a l b e i n g . Whereas n a t u r a l i s m became c o n f i n e d to a

continuous d e v e l o p i n g of theme which employed the s c i e n ­

t i f i c method o f o b s e r v a t i o n and g e n e r a l l y d e a l t i n e x t e r n a l

s o c i a l problems, S t r i n d b e r g chose to express i n drama h i s

own i n n e r v i s i o n , the way h i s i m a g i n a t i o n viewed the

world, and to p r e s e n t t h i s v i s i o n i n c o n c r e t e e x t e r n a l

form. I t "is a p e r s o n a l form of i n n e r r e a l i t y p r o j e c t e d

and made m a n i f e s t through e x t e r n a l d e p i c t i o n of a c t i o n ,

- 1 1 -

not o n l y i n terms of r e a l i s t i c d i a l o g u e , theme and char­

a c t e r development, but i n the c r e a t i o n of a p e r v a s i v e

mood t r a n s m i t t e d to the audience w i t h the a i d of l y r i c s

and symbolic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . In s h o r t , w i t h a l l the

a i d s t h a t make the t h e a t e r a l i v e and f a n t a s t i c , S t r i n d b e r g

s t r o v e t o p r e s e n t r e a l i t y , though not r e a l i t y as d e p i c t e d

by the "photographic" and " s c i e n t i f i c " s c h o o l of n a t u r a l ­

i s t s , but r a t h e r through the p r e s e n t a t i o n of r e a l i t y as

i t i s seen and a f f e c t s the v e r y s o u l of the d r a m a t i s t .

B e f o r e t u r n i n g to The Ghost Sonata i t i s o n l y

f i t t i n g t h a t one p o i n t out both the s i g n i f i c a n c e of some

of S t r i n d b e r g ' s e a r l i e r w r i t i n g s and r e l a t e d b i o g r a p h i c a l

f a c t s i n order t h a t one may grasp an o v e r a l l view of the

d i r e c t i o n taken by h i s l i t e r a r y endeavors. Even d u r i n g

S t r i n d b e r g * s s o - c a l l e d " n a t u r a l i s t i c " p e r i o d i t i s q u i t e

apparant t h a t he goes beyond the accepted norm of

n a t u r a l i s m by seeking an exaggerated e f f e c t , r e d u c i n g

a c t i o n t o i t s s i m p l e s t terms and j u x t a p o s i n g h i s e f f e c t s

i n order t o b r i n g to the stage an i n n e r v i s i o n of r e a l i t y

as p e r c e i v e d by him. V e r i s i m i l i t u d e or " r e a l i s m " i s

d i s r e g a r d e d i f the e f f e c t and mood produced by d i s t o r t i o n ,

e x a g g e r a t i o n or a b s t r a c t i o n i s i n keeping w i t h the i n n e r

v i s i o n , the s u p e r - s u b j e c t i v e view of events S t r i n d b e r g

imagines as " r e a l " . E s s e n t i a l l y a study of S t r i n d b e r g ,

- 1 2 -

whether i t be of prose or p o e t r y , n o v e l or p l a y , i s a

study i n biography, or more a c c u r a t e l y , psychology, f o r

v i r t u a l l y every p o i n t one touches upon needs some s o r t

of b i o g r a p h i c a l f o o t n o t e i n o r d e r to understand the f u l l

r a m i f i c a t i o n s of h i s work. Though many d e t a i l s i n

S t r i n d b e r g ' s c r e a t i o n s are r e c o g n i z a b l e as b i o g r a p h i c a l ,

they a r e , n e v e r t h e l e s s , d i s t o r t e d , heightened, compressed

and a b s t r a c t e d to s u i t h i s p a r t i c u l a r view of those events.

By i n t e g r a t i n g h i s s u b j e c t i v e o b s e r v a t i o n s i n t o drama,

the c u r r e n t form of n a t u r a l i s m would not s u f f i c e t o ex­

p r e s s t h i s view of " p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e a l i t y " and the

c r e a t i o n of new modes of e x p r e s s i o n became n e c e s s a r y .

The d i r e c t i o n S t r i n d b e r g was t o take i n l a t e r y e a r s

i s apparent even i n h i s s o - c a l l e d " n a t u r a l i s t i c " p l a y s

f o r they do not completely meet the requirements of

n a t u r a l i s m (note the above quoted l e t t e r from Z o l a ) .

I f The F a t h e r , f o r example, i s " s l i c e of l i f e " r e a l i s m ,

i t c e r t a i n l y i s a c u r i o u s one needing many q u a l i f i c a t i o n s .

Maurice Valency has suggested t h a t i f The F a t h e r i s to

be c o n s i d e r e d a drama of p h o t o g r a p h i c r e a l i s m i t i s not

a photograph of e x t e r n a l s u r f a c e s but r a t h e r "the 2 1

photograph of the X-ray." S t r i n d b e r g p e n e t r a t e s the

l i f e he sees around him and p r e s e n t s a s t a r t l i n g i n n e r

view, b a r i n g the v e r y s o u l of the i n d i v i d u a l . I t i s the

- 1 3 -

b e g i n n i n g of modern p s y c h o l o g i c a l drama where the l i f e

of the C a p t a i n i s not so much an a c c u r a t e p o r t r a y a l of

e x t e r n a l experience but r a t h e r a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of the

l i f e t h a t l i e s beneath e x p e r i e n c e - - a l i f e which one i s

not r e a d i l y made aware of u n l e s s i t s t r i k e s resonant

s t r i n g s w i t h i n our own b e i n g . The s i t u a t i o n of the

C a p t a i n does not depend on l o g i c a l resemblance t o ex­

t e r n a l e x p e r i e n c e f o r the exaggerated e f f e c t s d efy v e r i ­

s i m i l i t u d e , y e t we can understand h i s predicament and

empathize f o r i n the C a p t a i n we see o u r s e l v e s when g i v e n 2 2

up t o emotional excess.

From our vantage p o i n t one can see the The F a t h e r

moves toward depth psychology, a p e n e t r a t i n g d i a g n o s i s

of the p r o t a g o n i s t ' s s t a t e of mind, p r o v i d i n g a s p e c i a l

s o r t of mimesis not of s u r f a c e r e a l i t y but a b a r i n g o f

p s y c h i c motives which u n d e r l i e the a c t i o n . Such an

"X-ray" photograph of l i f e can be d i s c o n c e r t i n g , to say

the l e a s t , e s p e c i a l l y t o an audience accustomed to the

p l o d d i n g c o n v e n t i o n a l l o g i c of n a t u r a l i s m . But S t r i n d b e r g

was not to be ham-strung by c o n v e n t i o n s . In a l e t t e r t o

h i s b r o t h e r , A x e l , he w r i t e s : "You w i l l know t h a t , as

a poet, I blend f i c t i o n w i t h r e a l i t y , and a l l my misogyny

i s t h e o r e t i c a l , f o r I c o u l d n ' t l i v e w i thout the company

of women...So you mustn't get depressed when you read The

- 1 4 -

Father, for i t i s a work of f i c t i o n . " (February 25, 1887)

And l a t e r i n a l e t t e r to Axel Lundegard: " I t seems to

me as though I walk i n my sleepr«?as though r e a l i t y and

imagination are one. 1 don't know i f The Father i s a work

of the imagination, or i f my l i f e has been...Through

much writing my l i f e has become a shadowplay.••"

(November 12, 1887) The point here being, much of the

material i s biographical and Strindberg i s conscious that

he draws on t h i s though i t i s interspersed with f i c t i o n - -

as such i t does not have the desired o b j e c t i v i t y of

"naturalism" and i t becomes a personal expression of

events. The motives for the actions are p a r t l y found i n

r e a l occurences and p a r t l y as p r o j e c t i o n of Strindberg*s

tormented psyche. Both are combined i n order to form

a u n i f i e d e f f e c t on the audience, to awaken the audience

to various layers of r e a l i t y . To accomplish t h i s the

author must base the drama on his own experiences, for

he cannot know the workings of any other consciousness

than h i s own. By using material d i r e c t l y or i n d i r e c t l y

a f f e c t i n g the author personally he makes his audience

aware of nature as seen through h i s own temperament--in

thi s case the super-subjective poetic temperament, not

dominated by Zola's "objective" stance.

Strindberg's temperament i s d i f f i c u l t to come to

- 1 5 -

g r i p s w i t h , not because of a l a c k of s u f f i c i e n t auto­

b i o g r a p h i c a l m a t e r i a l or knowledge of the man, f o r

v i r t u a l l y e v e r y t h i n g he wrote was of an a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l

n a t u r e ( t h e r e are some f i f t y - f i v e volumns of c o l l e c t e d

works i n the John Lan d q u i s t e d i t i o n ) ; on the c o n t r a r y

the sheer amount df m a t e r i a l makes i t d i f f i c u l t t o f i n d

convenient l a b e l s . D i f f i c u l t as i t may be t o d e a l w i t h

S t r i n d b e r g ' s r i c h temperament, the most s t r i k i n g a s p e c t

i s , without q u a l i f i c a t i o n , h i s h y p e r s e n s i t i v i t y . In one

of h i s Chamber P l a y s h i s a l t e r ego says, "I was b o m

without a f i l m over my eyes--and I t h e r e f o r e can see r i g h t 2 3

through t h i n g s . " T h i s h y p e r s e n s i t i v i t y , or i n A l r i k

Gustafson's words, "the i n c i s i v e i n t e n s i t y of h i s v i s i o n " ^

operates on a l l l e v e l s of S t r i n d b e r g ' s e x p e r i e n c e s — a n d

i t i s the i n t e n s e responses t o h i s e x p e r i e n c e s which he

attempts t o communicate t o the o u t s i d e world through h i s

w r i t i n g s . However, the c o n v e n t i o n a l forms of e x p r e s s i o n

proved inadequate f o r h i s temperament's i m a g i n a t i v e f l i g h t

and v i s i o n a r y i n t e n s i t y .

The s e a r c h f o r form, apparent i n The F a t h e r , was to

c o n t i n u e i n the " n a t u r a l i s t i c " endeavors of Miss J u l i e .

In the "Author's Foreword" S t r i n d b e r g , i n an e l a b o r a t e

defense of h i s form of new drama, s t a t e s :

- 1 6 -

Some c o u n t r i e s , i t i s t r u e , have attempted to c r e a t e a new drama by u s i n g the o l d forms w i t h up-to-date c o n t e n t s , but not o n l y has th e r e been i n s u f f i c i e n t time f o r these new ideas t o be p o p u l a r i z e d , so t h a t the audience can grasp them, but...as no new form has been d e v i s e d f o r these new c o n t e n t s , the new wine has b u r s t the o l d b o t t l e s . 2 5

He c o n t i n u e s by simply s a y i n g , "In t h i s p l a y I have not

t r i e d t o do an y t h i n g new f o r t h i s cannot be done, but

o n l y t o modernize the form t o meet the demands which may, 26

I t h i n k , be made on t h i s a r t today." In modernizing

the form, no s m a l l t a s k i n i t s e l f , he f l a t t e r s h i m s e l f

on having gone beyond p r e s e n t forms by p r o b i n g the

c h a r a c t e r ' s motives and s u g g e s t i n g a m u l t i p l i c i t y of

motives as a p o s s i b l e c l u e t o the c h a r a c t e r ' s m o t i v a t i o n s .

He looks f o r a number of e x p l a n a t i o n s i n s t e a d of being

s a t i s f i e d w i t h a simple motive; p s y c h o l o g i c a l , p h y s i o ­

l o g i c a l , e v o l u t i o n a r y and h e r e d i t a r y p r i n c i p l e s a r e

probed. He probes deeper and c r e a t e s somewhat "character­

l e s s " c h a r a c t e r s who a r e but "conglomerations of p a s t

and p r e s e n t stages of c i v i l i z a t i o n , b i t s from books and

newspapers, scraps of humanity, rags and t a t t e r s of f i n e

c l o t h i n g , patched t o g e t h e r as i n a human s o u l . " ^ ? The

sea r c h f o r new forms of e x p r e s s i o n and the c r e a t i o n o f

" c h a r a c t e r l e s s " c h a r a c t e r s a r e of i n t e r e s t i n t h a t i t

p o i n t s toward the grotesque f a n t a s y of the p o s t - i n f e r n o drama where S t r i n d b e r g becomes more p a i n f u l l y aware of

- 1 7 -

the t o t a l m i s e r y of man. The move i s away from s p e c i f i c

case s t u d i e s of man, which h e l d so much i n t e r e s t f o r the

n a t u r a l i s t s , by a move toward the c o n c e n t r a t i o n on

u n i v e r s a l Man--man w i t h a c a p i t a l M. The i n n e r " r e a l i t y "

of h i s h y p e r s e n s i t i v e s o u l sought to f i n d e x p r e s s i o n f o r

Man's u n i v e r s a l s u f f e r i n g and p a i n which the s e c r e t l i f e

of S t r i n d b e r g ' s psyche e x p e r i e n c e d . S t r i n d b e r g ' s

problem, as has been r e p e a t e d l y suggested, was to f i n d

forms and techniques t h a t c o u l d convey more adequately

than d i d orthodox n a t u r a l i s m , or some oth e r t r a d i t i o n a l

dramatic technique, the v a r i e d and ambiguous t e x t u r e of

the s o u l ' s e x p e r i e n c e s . T h i s was ac h i e v e d i n h i s p o s t -

Inferno works where the st r a n g e " d r e a m - l i k e " q u a l i t y of

man's e x i s t e n c e i s pres e n t e d by p a r t l y u t i l i z i n g

n a t u r a l i s t i c t e c h n i q u e s , but more important S t r i n d b e r g

moves i n t o the subterranean world of f a n t a s y and symbols.

-18-

Chapter Two: The World of Dreams and Distortions

The Ghost Sonata, written i n February and March

of 1907, was not the f i r s t "dream-play" Strindberg had

undertaken, but followed some years a f t e r A Dream Play

(1901) and To Damascus (1898-1901). In his Reminder

to the reader that prefaced A Dream Play he wrote what

has now become a c l a s s i c manifesto regarding the form

of the "dream-play":

In t h i s dream play, as i n his former dream play To Damascus, the Author has sought to reprocTuce cne disconnected but apparently l o g i c a l form of a dream. Anything can happen; everything i s possible and probable. Time and space do not e x i s t ; on a s l i g h t ground­work of r e a l i t y , imagination spins and weaves new patterns made up of memories, experiences, unfettered fancies, absurdities and improvi­sations.

The characters are s p l i t , double and multiply; they evaporate, c r y s t a l l i s e , scatter and con­verge. But a single consciousness holds sway over them a l l - - t h a t of the dreamer. For him there are no secrets, no incongru­i t i e s , no scruples and no law. He neither condemns or acquits, but only r e l a t e s , and since on the whole, there i s more pain than pleasure i n the dream, a tone of melancholy, and of compassion for a l l l i v i n g things, runs through the swaying n a r r a t i v e . Sleep, the l i b e r a t o r , often appears as a torturer, but when the pain i s at i t s worst, the s u f f e r e r awakes--and i s thus reconciled with r e a l i t y . For however agonising r e a l l i f e may be, at this moment, compared with the tormenting dream i t i s joy.28

The main theme--life as a dream--as expressed here

- 1 9 -

h a s g r o w n i n c r e a s i n g l y s i n c e S t r i n d b e r g ' s I n f e r n o c r i s i s 2 9 ;

t h e d r e a m - r e a l i t y o f e x i s t e n c e h a s become a l i v i n g

r e a l i t y t h a t i s now t r a n s p o s e d i n t o d r a m a . I n L e g e n d s

h e x a s k s :

Do y o u know what makes l i f e e n d u r a b l e f o r me? Y e s , t h a t I i n t h e m e a n t i m e b e l i e v e t h a t l i f e i s o n l y a h a l f r e a l i t y , a t o r ­t u o u s d r e a m , i n f l i c t e d on u s a s a p u n i s h ­m e n t ; and a t t h e moment o f d e a t h one i s awakened t o t h e r e a l r e a l i t y , t h a t one becomes c o n s c i o u s a l l was o n l y a d r e a m ; a l l t h e e v i l one h a s c o m m i t t e d was o n l y a dream.30

Use o f t h e d r e a m m o t i f i s n o t o n l y a n a t t e m p t t o p r o v i d e

a p e r s o n a l : ] w o r l d v i e w b u t a l s o p r o v i d e s a s u b j e c t i v e

o r g a n i c s t r u c t u r e , a f o r m e n a b l i n g S t r i n d b e r g t o e x ­

p r e s s l i f e a s h e e x p e r i e n c e d i t w i t h g r e a t e r i m m e d i a c y .

The G h o s t S o n a t a , h o w e v e r , d i f f e r s f r o m i t s two

p r e d e c e s s o r s i n t h a t t h e p l a y w r i g h t d o e s n o t e n t i r e l y

a b a n d o n h i m s e l f t o a n o v e r i n d u l g e n c e i n p e r s o n a l " m e m o r i e s ,

e x p e r i e n c e s , u n f e t t e r e d f a n c i e s , a b s u r d i t i e s and i m p r o v i ­

s a t i o n s . " T h e r e i s , i n f a c t , a n o v e r a l l u n i t y a n d l o g i c ,

t h e u n i t y o f t h e d r e a m , h o l d i n g S t r i n d b e r g ' s p u r e l y

p e r s o n a l r e s p o n s e s t o e x p e r i e n c e i n c h e c k ; i f n o t t o t a l l y

s u b d u e d t h e y a r e n e v e r t h e l e s s t r a n s m u t e d i n t o a com­

m u n i c a b l e p a t t e r n o f s y m b o l s , a m p l i f y i n g t h e mood and

theme. - T h e t o n e and theme o f t h i s p l a y , t o sum i t up i n

a p h r a s e , i s one o f p e s s i m i s m and r e s i g n a t i o n i n t h e

- 2 0 -

f a c e o f man's i n c r e a s i n g s u f f e r i n g u n t i l r e l e a s e d b y

d e a t h .

What i m p r e s s e d one c h i e f l y i n The G h o s t S o n a t a i s

t h e r i c h m i x t u r e o f n a t u r a l i s m a n d c e r t a i n e l e m e n t s 31

p o i n t i n g t o w a r d e x p r e s s i o n i s m ; t h e s h i f t b e t w e e n t h e

" r e a l " and " i m a g i n e d " w o r l d , c o m b i n i n g t h e " n a t u r a l " and

t h e " u n n a t u r a l " i n t o a d r a m a t i c f o r m r e v e a l i n g S t r i n d b e r g ' s

p r o f o u n d l y p e s s i m i s t i c v i e w o f l i f e . We, t h e a u d i e n c e ,

a r e s u b j e c t e d t o t h e m o s t g r o t e s q u e and b i z a r r e s c e n e s

d e p i c t i n g t h e m i s e r a b l e l i f e o f a s u f f e r i n g m a n k i n d . I n

s t u d y i n g t h i s d r a m a t i c w o r k a b a s i c q u e s t i o n a r i s e s - -

how d o e s t h e d r a m a t i s t c r e a t e a f o r m w h i c h w i l l c o n v e y

h i s p e n e t r a t i n g v i e w o f l i f e , a v i e w c o m m e n s u r a t e w i t h

h i s v i s i o n o f t h e d e p r a v i t y o f t h e human c o n d i t i o n and

t h e p e r v a s i v e mood o f t o t a l r e s i g n a t i o n t o t h e a b y s m a l

s t a t e o f b e i n g . I n The G h o s t S o n a t a t h e p a t t e r n o f t h e

p s y c h i c a l d r e a m i s t r a n s p o s e d b y S t r i n d b e r g i n t o a n a r t -

f o r m l e n d i n g u n i t y t o t h e f a n t a s t i c and somewhat i n ­

c r e d i b l e m a t e r i a l p r e s e n t e d t h r o u g h a m i x t u r e o f

n a t u r a l i s t i c r e a l i t y , d i s t o r t i o n s , f a n t a s y a n d s y m b o l s .

As a b a c k g r o u n d t o t h e d r e a m - f o r m l e t u s f i r s t t u r n t o

F r e u d .

********

- 2 1 -

T h e r e i s a n u n c a n n y s i m i l a r i t y b e t w e e n S t r i n d b e r g 1 s

d r e a m p r e s e n t a t i o n o f l i f e a n d F r e u d ' s p s y c h o a n a l y t i c

s t u d i e s o f d r e a m s . D e s p i t e t h e s i m i l a r i t i e s i t i s

g e n e r a l l y h e l d , s i n c e t h e r e i s no e v i d e n c e t o s u g g e s t

o t h e r w i s e , t h a t S t r i n d b e r g was u n a w a r e o f F r e u d ' s w o r k

on d r e a m s . Y e t a l o o k a t F r e u d ' s w o r k on dreams w i l l

t h r o w l i g h t on S t r i n d b e r g ' s c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s . I n a n y

e x a m i n a t i o n o f S t r i n d b e r g ' s a nd F r e u d ' s u s e o f d r e a m s

one m u s t k e e p i n m i n d , a s p o i n t e d o u t by R o b e r t W.

C o r r i g a n , t h a t t h e r e i s a d i s t i n c t i o n t o be made b e t w e e n

t h e d r e a m a s a p s y c h i c a l phenomonon and t h e d r e a m a s a n

a r t - f o r m . ^ 2 N e v e r t h e l e s s a c o m p a r i s o n i s i n o r d e r .

F r e u d , i n V o r l e s u n g e n z u r E i n f t i h r u n g i n d i e 3 3

P s y c h o a n a l y s e , when s t u d y i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n

t h e d r e a m - e l e m e n t s and t h e l a t e n t t h o u g h t s u n d e r l y i n g

t hem, h a s i d e n t i f i e d f o u r s t a g e s o f d r e a m a c t i v i t i e s .

T he f o u r s t a g e s o r " a c h i e v e m e n t s " ( 1 , L e i s t u n g " ) - - c o n -

d e n s a t i o n ( V e r d i c h t u n g ) , d i s p l a c e m e n t ( V e r s c h i e b u n g ) .

p l a s t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ( p l a s t i s c h e W o r t d a r s t e l l u n g ) a nd

s e c o n d a r y e l a b o r a t i o n ( s e k u n d a * r e B e a r b e i t u n g ) c o n s t i t u t e

t h e b a s i c m a t e r i a l o f l a t e n t d r e a m - t h o u g h t s . I n o r d e r

t o u n d e r s t a n d " d r e a m - d i s t o r t i o n s " ( T r a u m e n t s t e 1 l u n g )

F r e u d s u g g e s t s i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o p e n e t r a t e f r o m t h e

s u b s t i t u t e ( m a n i f e s t d r e a m c o n t e n t ) t o t h e t h o u g h t p r o p e r

- 2 2 -

( l a t e n t c o n t e n t ) f o r w h i c h i t s t a n d s . U n d e r s t a n d i n g

t h e s e f o u r s t a g e s o f d r e a m a c t i v i t i e s w i l l a s s i s t i n t h e

p r o b e o f " d r e a m - d i s t o r t i o n s " .

C o n d e n s a t i o n i s t h e p r o c e s s w h e r e c e r t a i n l a t e n t

e l e m e n t s 'are o m i t t e d ; o n l y f r a g m e n t s o f l a t e n t d r e a m s a r e

p r e s e n t i n t h e m a n i f e s t c o n t e n t ; a n d c e r t a i n l a t e n t

e l e m e n t s s h a r i n g some common c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a r e c o m b i n e d

i n t o a c o m p o s i t e i m a g e . F r e u d i n e x p l a i n i n g t h i s p r o c e s s

o f c o n d e n s a t i o n s t a t e s : " E i n e s o l c h e M i s c h p e r s o n s i e h t .

e t w a a u s w i e A, i s t a b e r g e k l e i d e t w i e B, t u t e i n e V e r -

r i c h t u n g , w i e man v o n C e r i n n e r t , und d a b e i i s t n o c h e i n r\ 3 5 W i s s e n , d a s s es d i e p e r s o n D i s t . " I n o t h e r w o r d s , a

w h o l e m y r i a d o f e l e m e n t s a n d e v e n t s a r e c o m p r e s s e d i n t o

a s i n g l e c o m p o s i t e f a n t a s y p i c t u r e . H owever u n c l e a r t h e

c o n d e n s a t i o n p r o c e s s may a p p e a r i n i t s m a n i f e s t f o r m ,

t h e d r e a m c a n be i n t e r p r e t e d a n d r e l a t e d t o p a r t i c u l a r

a s s o c i a t i o n s i n w a k i n g l i f e , f o r t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s u c h

a c o m p o s i t e f i g u r e i s n o t a h a p h a z a r d a f f a i r J i t i s a

p u r p o s e l y c o n s t r u c t e d i mage t o r e p r e s e n t a n u n d e r l y i n g

t h o u g h t t h r o u g h a m e t h a p h o r i c p r o c e s s .

D i s p l a c e m e n t , t h e s e c o n d a c h i e v e m e n t i n t h e d r e a m -

w o r k , d e a l s w i t h t h e r e a r r a n g e m e n t o r s u b s t i t u t i o n o f

s i g n i f i c a n c e w i t h i n t h e d r e a m . T h e r e a r e two f o r m s o f

d i s p l a c e m e n t : f i r s t , a l a t e n t e l e m e n t may be r e p l a c e d

-23-

by s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n i t s e l f , a s l o n g a s i t a l l u d e s

t o t h e o b j e c t ; s e c o n d l y , t h e r e may be a t r a n s f e r o f

a'cent, s h i f t i n g t h e e m p h a s i s f r o m a n i m p o r t a n t t o a

r e l a t i v e l y u n i m p o r t a n t e l e m e n t . S u c h s u b s t i t u t i o n o r d i s ­

p l a c e m e n t o f e l e m e n t s w i t h i n t h e d r e a m - w o r k s h i f t s t h e

w h o l e c e n t e r o f t h e d r e a m , t h u s g i v i n g t h e d r e a m a

" f o r e i g n a p p e a r a n c e " . The e f f e c t o f s u c h t r a n s f e r e n c e

o f s i g n i f i c a n c e o r s t r e s s i s t o g i v e t h e d r e a m e l e m e n t

a d i s t o r t e d o r s u r r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t : i . e . , a n i n c o n ­

g r u o u s image i s p r o d u c e d b y means o f u n n a t u r a l c o m b i n a t i o n s .

The t h i r d a c h i e v e m e n t o f t h e d r e a m - w o r k i s t h e

p r o c e s s o f p l a s t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n w h e r e t h e t h o u g h t s a r e

t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o v i s u a l i m a g e s . To r e p r e s e n t w o r d s ,

f e e l i n g s , t h o u g h t s a n d s e n s o r y p e r c e p t i o n s i s d i f f i c u l t

d u e t o t h e a b s t r a c t n a t u r e o f v e r b a l i z i n g t h e s e p r o c e s s e s ,

b u t i n t h e d r e a m - w o r k t h i s i s a c h i e v e d by r e g r e s s i n g t o

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n t h r o u g h " p i c t o r i a l forms 1, 1. T h e s e 'memory-

p i c t u r e s " , t h e n , a r e t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f l a t e n t e l e m e n t s ,

a s e x p r e s s e d i n w o r d s , i n t o s u c h p e r c e p t u a l f o r m s a s v i s u a l

i m a g e s . I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e t h o u g h t p r o c e s s , o r v e r b a l i z a ­

t i o n p r o c e s s i s d i s t i l l e d i n t o s y m b o l i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .

The f o u r t h and f i n a l a s p e c t o f t h e d r e a m - w o r k i s known

a s s e c o n d a r y e l a b o r a t i o n . D u r i n g t h i s p r o c e s s t h e v a r i o u s

e l e m e n t s o f t h e d r e a m a r e c o m b i n e d i n t o a f a i r l y c o h e r e n t

36 w h o l e . T h o u g h v a r i o u s f r a g m e n t s a r e u n i t e d i n t o a n

- 2 4 -

o r g a n i c u n i t one i s w a r n e d t h a t t h e d r e a m m a t e r i a l i s

o f t e n a r r a n g e d s o as t o l e a d t o m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o f

i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . E s s e n t i a l l y t h i s i s t o s u g g e s t t h a t

t h e f o r m o f t h e d r e a m i s a c o h e r e n t w h o l e i n i t s e l f ,

t h o u g h i t may n o t c o r r e s p o n d t o e x t e r n a l r e a l i t y - - y e t

t h e d r e a m i s n o t t o be d i s c o u n t e d i n s p i t e o f t h e f a c t

t h a t e x t e r n a l r e a l i t y may be d i s p l a c e d , f o r dreams a r e

a n e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e d r e a m e r ' s i n n e r r e a l i t y . A s s u c h

t h e d r e a m i s a s e l f - c o n t a i n e d c o h e r e n t f o r m w h e t h e r o r

n o t t h e d r e a m h a s d i s c e r n i b l e m e a n i n g b e y o n d i t s e l f .

R. W. C o r r i g a n s t a t e s t h a t "a d r e a m i s n o t a r e p r e s e n t a ­

t i o n o f s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n i t s e l f - - i t i s a s t r u c t u r e

o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n w h i c h m e a n i n g i s a f u n c t i o n o f f o r m ,

and f o r m i s i t s own m e a n i n g . " - ^ 7 T h i s may be t r u e , b u t

i m a g i n e how much more m e a n i n g f u l a d r e a m i s when i t

p o i n t s t o s o m e t h i n g b e y o n d i t s e l f a s i s t h e c a s e w i t h

S t r i n d b e r g ' s " d r e a m - p l a y " .

B r i n g i n g F r e u d ' s d r e a m t h e o r y i n t o p l a y a t t h i s

p o i n t i s by no means a n a t t e m p t t o s u p e r i m p o s e a n

a r t i f i c i a l t h e o r e t i c a l f r a m e w o r k o n t h i s e x a m i n a t i o n o f

The G h o s t S o n a t a . R a t h e r i t s e r v e s a t w o f o l d p u r p o s e

by s h e d d i n g l i g h t on t h e s i m i l a r i t i e s b e t w e e n t h e "dream-

w o r k " and t h e a r t i s t ' s c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s , and by p o i n t i n g

t o t h e u s e o f t h e d r e a m a s a l i t e r a r y m o t i f . M o r e

- 2 5 -

c l a r i f i c a t i o n on t h e s e two u s e s o f t h e d r e a m i s i n

o r d e r . The " d r e a m - w o r k " f u n c t i o n s much l i k e S t r i n d b e r g ' s

c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s b y w h i c h h i s p e r c e p t i o n s a nd o b s e r v a t i o n s

o f d a i l y l i f e a r e t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o d r a m a t i c a r t . T h i s ,

a s w i l l be shown, becomes c l e a r l y e v i d e n t i n The G h o s t

S o n a t a w h e r e t h e m o d e l s a r e t a k e n f r o m r e a l l i f e and

t r a n s m u t e d i n t o w h a t a p p e a r s t o be a somewhat u n u s u a l

f a n t a s y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f r e a l i t y . I n d e e d , t h e "dream-

w o r k " l i k e a r t i s t i c c r e a t i v i t y i s e s s e n t i a l l y one o f

t r a n s l a t i o n - - a r e n d e r i n g o f t h o u g h t s i n t o a n o t h e r f o r m

o r l a n g u a g e . I n r e g a r d s t o f o r m , F r e u d s t a t e s : " 'Traum'

k a n n man n i c h t s a n d e r e s n e n n e n a l s d a s E r g e b n i s d e r

T r a u m a r b e i t , d . h . a l s o d i e F o r m , i n w e l c h e d i e l a t e n t e n

G e d a n k e n d u r c h d i e T r a u m a r b e i t U b e r f U h r t w o r d e n s i n d . " 3 8

L i k e w i s e , t h e t e r m " d r e a m - m o t i f " i s o n l y a p p l i c a b l e t o

t h e w h o l e f o r m o f t h e d r e a m s t r u c t u r e , n o t t h e v a r i o u s

a r t i f i c i a l d i v i s i o n s e m p l o y e d by t h e a n a l y i s t i n b r e a k i n g

down t h e d r e a m i n t o i t s l a t e n t p a r t s , b u t t o t h e d r e a m e r ' s

c o n c e p t o f a d r e a m . T h i s becomes t h e w o r l d s e p a r a t e

f r o m w a k i n g l i f e , a f a n t a s y w o r l d w h i c h h a s a n a u r a o f

u n r e a l i t y .

W i t h t h i s b r i e f b a c k g r o u n d o f t h e d r e a m a s a

p s y c h i c a l phenomenon l e t u s now p r o c e e d t o e x a m i n e The

G h o s t S o n a t a ; f i r s t t h e s i m i l a r i t i e s b e t w e e n t h e "dream-

-26-

work" and S t r i n d b e r g ' s c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s e s , and second,

the use of the dream as an a r t - f o r m .

The Ghost Sonata f i r s t appears to have been composed

by one who i s h a l l u c i n a t i n g , or by one who i s e x p e r i e n c i n g

an a l t e r e d s t a t e of c o n s c i o u s n e s s . I t should be noted

t h a t i n many ways the Student appears as an author 39

s u r r o g a t e --a h y p e r s e n s i t i v e "Sunday's C h i l d " who

s u f f e r s from an a l t e r e d s t a t e of c o n s c i o u s n e s s . His

acute p e r c e p t i v e n e s s i s exacerbated by a l a c k of s l e e p ,

b r i n g i n g him i n t o the border r e g i o n s of h a l l u c i n a t i o n s .

T h i s i s s i m i l a r t o S t r i n d b e r g ' s own experiences d u r i n g

h i s " I n f e r n o C r i s i s " where he would go n i g h t s and days

on end without s l e e p w h i l e o v e r - s t i m u l a t i n g h i s senses 4 0

w i t h excess a l c o h o l i c consumption. In t h i s c o n d i t i o n

the raw nerve endings of h i s s e n s i t i v e antennea were

exposed to the "excess of impressions t h a t f o r c e them­

s e l v e s on me,"^ In a l e t t e r t o T o r s t e n Hedlund ( J u l y ,

1896) S t r i n d b e r g wrote, " H a l l u c i n a t i o n s , f a n t a s i e s ,

dreams, a r e a l l v e r y r e a l to me. I f I see my p i l l o w

assume v a r i o u s human forms, then those forms are t h e r e ;

and i f someone t e l l s me t h a t they e x i s t o n l y ( I ) i n my

i m a g i n a t i o n then I say, O n l y l I What my i n n e r eye sees

i s more i m p o r t a n t t o me," The l a n d s c a p e w h i c h t h e

" i n n e r e y e " p e r c e i v e s b e g i n s t o t a k e on i t s own r e a l i t y ,

S t r i n d b e r g now o f f e r s a m u l t i p l i c i t y o f r e a l i s m s t o r e ­

p l a c e t h e s i n g l e r e a l i t y w h i c h h a d s o d o m i n a t e d t h e

n a t u r a l i s t ' s w o r l d v i e w . I n L e g e n d s he w r i t e s :

F o r s e v e r a l y e a r s I h a v e r e c o r d e d a l l my d r e a m s , and h a v e become c o n v i n c e d t h a t a l l men l i v e a d o u b l e l i f e , f o r i m a g i n a t i o n s , f a n c i e s a n d dreams h a v e t h e i r own f o r m o f r e a l i t y . We a r e a l l s p i r i t u a l s o m n a m b u l i s t s who i n o u r dreams commit d e e d s w h i c h t h r o u g h c h a n g i n g s t a t e s f o l l o w u s d u r i n g w o r k i n g , h o u r s , , , A n d t h e p o e t ' s f a n t a s i e s , w h i c h i l i m i t e d s o u l s s o d e s p i s e , a r e r e a l i t i e s . ^

N o t e t h a t h e i n c l u d e s t h e w o r l d o f f a n t a s i e s , i m a g i n a ­

t i o n s a n d dreams a s b e i n g " r e a l " - - r e a l i n t h e s e n s e t h a t

t h e y e x i s t f o r t h e p e r s o n who p e r c e i v e s v i s i o n s d u r i n g

d r e a m i n g h o u r s a n d a l s o t h a t t h e y c o r r e s p o n d t o l i f e i n

w a k i n g r e a l i t y . T h i s , a s p o i n t e d o u t by G u n n a r B r a n d e l l ,

i s w h o l l y i n t h e s p i r i t o f t h e s y m b o l i s t s a n d s u r r e a l i s t s , 4 4

t h i s s u b j e c t i v e a n t i - r e a l i s t i c w o r l d o f t h e m y s t i c .

What t h e " i n n e r e y e " s e e s becomes t h e b a s i s f o r S t r i n d b e r g ' s

p r o j e c t i o n s o n t o t h e w r i t t e n p a g e . L e t u s p r o c e e d t o

e x p l o r e t h e b a c k g r o u n d t o t h e c r e a t i o n o f The G h o s t S o n a t a .

As i n t h e "d r e a m - w o r k " t h e e l e m e n t o f d i s t o r t i o n

a c c o u n t s f o r much t h a t o c c u r s i n S t r i n d b e r g ' s d r a m a . I t

i s s i m p l y n o t a n a r b i t r a r y a t t e m p t on h i s p a r t t o d i s t o r t

" o b j e c t i v e r e a l i t y " , b u t r a t h e r i t i s a n a t t e m p t t o

-28-

r e p r e s e n t i n drama a p s y c h i c e x p e r i e n c e - - t o r e p r e s e n t

and p r e s e n t a p e r s o n a l o u t l o o k on l i f e . Thus d i s ­

t o r t i o n , as p o i n t e d out by C a r l DahlstriJm, i s a

" p s y c h o l o g i c a l t r i c k ; the o b j e c t i v e s i d e of e x p e r i e n c e

i s c a s t away e n t i r e l y , , . • or i s warped i n o r d e r t h a t the

s u b j e c t i v e s i d e may gain."^"' T h i s has been the case w i t h

S t r i n d b e r g ' s w r i t i n g s a l l a l o n g - - K a r i n S m i r n o f f i n r e ­

f e r r i n g to S t r i n d b e r g * s treatment of h i s f i r s t marriage

wi t h S i r i von Essen i n A Madman's Defense (1894) s t a t e s :

"There i s s c a r c e l y an i n c i d e n t i n i t t h a t doesn't have

some f o u n d a t i o n i n f a c t - - o n l y e v e r y t h i n g i s so h o r r i b l y

t w i s t e d and d i s t o r t e d . " ^ D e s p i t e the d i s t o r t i o n s one

cannot d i s c o u n t S t r i n d b e r g ' s d i s t o r t e d and s u b j e c t i v e

p e r c e p t i o n s of the world around him s i n c e the m u l t i ­

p l i c i t y of sensory p e r c e p t i o n s a r e s e l e c t e d , transposed

and ordered i n t o a meaningful e x p e r i e n c e . T h i s i s not

simply t r a n s l a t e d i n t o dramatic symbols and images which

are meaningful t o S t r i n d b e r g a l o n e , but a l s o arranged

i n t o an a r t - f o r m r e a d i l y comprehensible t o h i s au d i e n c e .

The Ghost Sonata i s no e x c e p t i o n when i t comes to

u t i l i z i n g d i s t o r t e d r e a l i t y i n dramatic form. As u s u a l

S t r i n d b e r g b u i l d s h i s dramatic m o t i f s on observed r e a l i t y -

t.he c h a r a c t e r s and s i t u a t i o n s employed a r e o f t e n those

he has a t one time or another come a c r o s s i n r e a l l i f e .

-29-

In Ensam (Alone), a s e n s i t i v e autobiographical work

wirtten i n 1903, he r e l a t e s how h i s creative process

works--on his d a i l y walks he absorbs much that i s l a t e r

transposed into l i t e r a t u r e : "I take snapshot impressions

and afterwards work out what I've seen."^ 7 What he saw

on one occasion he was to use some four years l a t e r :

And so one evening I walked by a b e a u t i f u l corner apartment with large windows--I saw furniture from the 60s crossed with curtains from the 70s, portieres from the 80s and bric-a-brac from the 90s. In the window stood an alabaster urn, yellowed l i k e ivory by the breathing and sighing of people ? by wine fumes and tobacco smoke, an urn without use or purpose, which someome f i n a l l y had turned into a repository for c a l l i n g cards--a funeral urn made to adorn a grave and now containing the names of a l l the friends who had come and gone, of a l l the r e l a t i v e s l i v i n g and dead, of engaged couples and married couples, of those christened and those buried. Many p o r t r a i t s hung on the walls, from a l l ages and epochs, heroes in armour, wise men i n wigs, e c c l e s i a s t i c s i n c l e r i c a l c o l l a r s . In one corner stood a game table i n front of a divan, and four strange creatures sat around i t playing cards. They said nothing; t h e i r l i p s didn't move. Three of them were as old as time, but the fourth was of middle age or thereabouts. He must have been the man of the house. In the center of the room sat a young woman, her back to those at the card t a b l e 9 her head bent over her crocheting. She was obviously working away at i t but she took no i n t e r e s t i n i t - -simply making the time pass, s t i c h by s t i t c h , measuring out the seconds with her needle. Then she held her crochet work up and looked at i t as i f she were t e l l i n g time on a clock. But she looked beyond her

- 3 0 -

c r o c h e t c l o c k and i n t o t h e f u t u r e - - a n d h e r g l a n c e s p e d o u t t h r o u g h t h e w i n dow, p a s t t h e f u n e r a l u r n , a n d t h e r a y s f r o m h e r e y e s met m i n e o u t t h e r e i n t h e d a r k n e s s , t h o u g h s h e c o u l d n ' t s e e me. I t h o u g h t t h a t I knew h e r , t h a t s h e was s p e a k i n g t o me w i t h h e r e y e s , t h o u g h o f c o u r s e s h e w a s n ' t . T h e n one o f t h e mummies a t t h e t a b l e s a i d some­t h i n g . The woman r e p l i e d w i t h a movement o f h e r n e c k , w i t h o u t t u r n i n g a r o u n d . And t h e n a s i f h e r t h o u g h t s h a d b e e n i n t e r r u p t e d , o r a s i f s h e h a d m o m e n t a r i l y g i v e n h e r s e l f away, s h e d i p p e d h e r h e a d l o w e r t h a n b e f o r e a n d l e t h e r s e c o n d h a n d go t i c k i n g away. N e v e r h a v e I s e e n b o r e d o m , t e d i u m , w e a r i n e s s w i t h l i f e s o e p i t o m i z e d a s i n t h a t room.

The f a c e o f t h e man a t t h e c a r d t a b l e c h a n g e d e x p r e s s i o n c o n t i n u o u s l y . He seemed t o be u n e a s y , a s i f w a i t i n g f o r s o m e t h i n g , a n d t h e mummies s h a r e d h i s u n e a s i n e s s . E v e r y o n c e i n a w h i l e t h e y w o u l d c a s t a g l a n c e a t t h e c l o c k o n t h e w a l l , w hose l o n g e r h a n d was a p p r o a c h i n g t h e h o u r . P r o b a b l y t h e y w e r e w a i t i n g f o r someone, someone who w o u l d d r i v e away t h e i r b o r e d o m , b r i n g s o m e t h i n g new i n t o t h a t r o o m , g i v e t h e m a s h a k i n g u p , p e r h a p s e v e n t u r n t h e i r l i v e s u p s i d e down. A s i f o n t e n d e r h o o k s w i t h t h e f e a r t h a t t h a t m i g h t h a p p e n t h e y w e r e a f r a i d t o d e v o t e t h em­s e l v e s t o t h e game. T h e y p l a y e d t h e i r c a r d s t e n t a t i v e l y , a s i f t h e y e x p e c t e d t o be i n t e r ­r u p t e d a t a n y moment. B u t n o p a u s e s i n t h e i r p l a y , n o e x p r e s s i o n , n o g e s t u r e s . T h e y moved l i k e m a n n e q u i n s .

What was meant t o h a p p e n h a p p e n e d . "What l u c k l " I s a i d t o m y s e l f a s t h e p o r t i e r e moved a n d a m a i d i n a w h i t e c a p came i n t o a n n o u n c e someone. A s p a r k o f l i f e f l e w f r o m p e r s o n t o p e r s o n i n t h a t room, a n d t h e y o u n g woman t u r n e d h a l f w a y a r o u n d a s s h e r o s e t o h e r f e e t . A t t h e same i n s t a n t t h e c l o c k o n t h e w a l l s t r u c k t h e h o u r s o l o u d l y t h a t I h e a r d i t o u t on t h e s i d e w a l k , a n d I saw t h e m i n u t e h a n d jump t o t w e l v e . 4 8

A t t h i s moment S t r i n d b e r g ' s o b s e r v a t i o n s w e r e i n t e r r u p t e d

a n d he f e l t , "I had b e e n t h r o w n o u t i n t o t h e s t r e e t , o u t

- 3 1 -

o f t h a t room w h e r e I had b e e n i n s p i r i t f o r a l o n g two

m i n u t e s , l i v i n g a f r a g m e n t o f t h e l i v e s o f t h e s e AO

p e o p l e . " 7

From t h i s e p i s o d e one s e e s b o t h S t r i n d b e r g ' s a b i l i t y

t o p r o j e c t h i m s e l f i n t o c e r t a i n s i t u a t i o n s , and more

i m p o r t a n t , how he g a t h e r s m a t e r i a l w h i c h f i r e s h i s

c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s . A s i m p l e c o m p a r i s o n o f t h e d e t a i l s i n

t h i s s h o r t s c e n e w i t h d e t a i l s i n The G h o s t S o n a t a i s

s u f f i c i e n t t o c o n v i n c e one o f t h e r e a l l i f e o b s e r v a t i o n s

now t r a n s p o s e d i n t o d r a m a . N o t e t h a t S t r i n d b e r g p l a c e s

p a r t i c u l a r e m p h a s i s on t h e "boredom, t e d i u m , w e a r i n e s s

w i t h l i f e " , t h e u n e a s y a n t i c i p a t i o n t h a t s o m e t h i n g was

a b o u t t o o c c u r , t h e c l o c k , t h e "mummies", t h e a p p e a r a n c e

o f t h e m a i d - - a l l o f w h i c h i n a d i s t o r t e d f o r m p l a y a

s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n The G h o s t S o n a t a .

O t h e r e l e m e n t s i n T h e G h o s t S o n a t a a r e a l s o d r a w n

f r o m e x p e r i e n c e s i n r e a l l i f e . J a c o b Hummel i s b a s e d o n

a w e l l - t o - d o b u s i n e s s m a n whom S t r i n d b e r g , on h i s m o r n i n g

w a l k s , o c c a s i o n a l l y saw h a n d i n g a l m s t o t h e n e e d y . T h e

G i r l a n d t h e S t u d e n t a r e p r o b a b l y b a s e d on h i s own

d a u g h t e r a n d h e r f i a n c e t o whom he seems t o h a v e b e e n

a t t r a c t e d . The C o l o n e l a n d t h e Mummy a r e d r a w n f r o m

t h e same r e l a t i v e s a s t h e c o u p l e i n The Da n c e o f D e a t h ,

h i s s i s t e r A n n a a nd h i s b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , Hugo P h i l i p .

- 3 2 -

In 1900 the same brother-in-law placed a "von" before 5 3

his name, ju s t as the Colonel had done. The Japanese

screen Strindberg saw i n the P h i l i p home; and the idea

of the "death screen" was given to him by a niece, a

h o s p i t a l nurse who related how a screen i s placed before

the bed of a dying p a t i e n t . 5 ^ Bflcklin's "Island of the

Dead" which appears at the end of The Ghost Sonata was

one of Strindberg's f a v o r i t e paintings."'-' The d i f ­

f i c u l t i e s encountered with servants who are more of a

nuisance than an aid are no doubt a r e f l e c t i o n of

Strindberg's own domestic problems i n mid-March, 1907.

* n Bla Bokens H i s t o r i a he writes: My domestics l e f t , the house was turned upside down; I exchanged six domestics i n f o r t y days, one worse than the other. At l a s t I had to take care of myself; set the table, stoke the f i r e , and had to eat black s w i l l which I ordered out--i n short a l l the bitterness l i f e o f f e r s I was forced to suff e r without under­standing the reason.

The Cook with the bo t t l e of soya or c o l o r i t e has p a r t i c u l a r

s i g n i f i c a n c e for Strindberg--in a l e t t e r to his German

trans l a t o r Emil Schering he writes: "Do not forget the

soya b o t t l e , the c o l o r i t e which I have had to endure

for t h i r t e e n days; I have been eating colored waterl"

( A p r i l 7, 1907)-5 The episode where the Student's

father proceeded to unmask the characters seated around

-33-

the dinner table i s also told i n Bla Boken: "I had a

friend who during a party became clairvoyant; he

seated himself on the middle of the table and proceeded

to t e l l a l l he had seen during the evening; He stripped

his f r i e n d s - - i n the end he was carried off to the mad­

house." 5 8

The t i t l e "Sp8ksonaten" alluded to Beethoven's

piano sonata Opus 31 Number 2 i n D minor; i t was one of

Strindberg's f a v o r i t e sonatas(he was a great admirer of

Beethoven and belonged ta> a Beethoven s o c i e t y ) . He was

e s p e c i a l l y fond of a few f i n a l bars i n t h i s piece which

"awakened his pangs of conscience." When Leopold

Littmansson was to translate Crimes and Crimes, where

thi s sonata was used as a theme, Strindberg wrote: "Be

so good as to indicate i n paranthesis about Beethoven's

D minor sonata. The f i n a l e and e s p e c i a l l y bars 96-107

should come on strong. These bars always act as a

stimulant to my pangs of conscience." 5^ As a s u b t i t l e

for The Ghost Sonata Strindberg thought of adding

"Kama-Loka" i n reference to the theosophist name for the

realm of the dead. In a l e t t e r to Schering he wrote:

"during the writing I have suffered as i f i n Kama-Loka

(Scheol)" and that he had "created The Ghost Sonata with

the f e e l i n g that i t was h i s l a s t sonata."^O

- 3 4 -

Strindberg's correspondence to Schering i s of further

i n t e r e s t since i t i s a r i c h source of material revealing

the type of play he had intended to create. At one

point Strindberg writes: The Ghost Sonata " i s Schauder-

haft l i k e l i f e , when the v e i l f a l l s from our eyes and

we see Das Ding an S i c h 0 " 6 * What i s t h i s "thing i n

i t s e l f " which Strindberg sees, and more important, how

does he present t h i s "thing i n i t s e l f " . Again we return

to the question of form, which cannot be answered f u l l y

u n t i l one attempts to deal with the creative process, the

very source of Strindberg's dramatic v i s i o n .

The sources of Strindberg*s drama are, as shown

above, experiences i n his. own l i f e , d i s t orted and re­

arranged to s u i t his a r t i s t i c purpose, nonetheless they

are a personal account of r e a l i t y . Again he writes to

Schering and cautions him of the personal nature of the

play: "I now ask you to read my new drama as merely a

mosaic of personal and foreign occurences; but please

do not read i t as autobiographical or as memories. What

does not correspond to r e a l i t y i s poeticized and not 6 2

f a l s i f i c a t i o n of f a c t . " This form of "mosaic" which

Strindberg speaks of he has amplified on other occasions;

in Ensam he writes:

For I l i v e i n my work, looking ahead, some­times looking behind me, at my memories, which

/

-35-

I can treat l i k e a c h i l d ' s b u i l ding blocks. I can make a l l sorts of things with them, and the same memory can serve i n a l l sorts of ways i n a single dream structure of the imagination, turning up d i f f e r e n t colored sides. And since the number of arrangements i s myriad, I get a sense of i n f i n i t y as I play t h i s game. 6 3

Strindberg i s a master builder who has an i n f i n i t e

v a r i e t y of ways i n which to create a structure. With

his building blocks (memories based on experience) he

is able to build a l l sorts of fantasy structures by

merely arranging and rearranging the blocks i n the man­

ner his creative imagination d i r e c t s .

The haphazardness implied i n any creative method

employing such a kaleidoscopic view of personal ex­

periences needs to find a form appropriate to the v i s i o n .

As suggested above, Strindberg, i n order that he may

transpose experiences into a r t , employs d i s t o r t i o n , but

i t i s a unique form of d i s t o r t i o n which i s c l o s e l y linked

with the realm of dreams.

-36-

Chapter Three: The Search for New Techniques

As previously suggested, The Ghost Sonata i s

written i n the form of a "dream play", a form, though

s i m i l a r i n numerous aspects to the psychical dream,

d i f f e r s by v i r t u r e of being transposed into an art-form.

While the psychical dream often appears to the dreamer

as a haphazard conglomeration of images without any

d i s c e r n i b l e cohesive pattern fusing the dream into a

whole, the dramatist creating an art-form based on the

structure of the psychical dream must control the d i r e c t i o n

of the a r t i s t i c form so as to make i t communicable to

his audience. The random chance images projected i n

the psychical dream often demand the services of a trained

psychoanalyst to probe and expose underlying layers of

consciousness giving r i s e to the dream. If the dramatist

attempts to imitate the dream-form without endeavoring

to channel i t into a form with a r e a d i l y comprehensible

o v e r a l l theme and tone, he runs the r i s k of not being

able to communicate except to the i n i t i a t e d few. Rather,

the dramatist while employing the techniques, contents

and form of the psychical dream must manipulate them by

orchestrating them into a comprehensible whole, so as to

give r i s e to a u n i f i e d e f f e c t without the aid of the

l i t e r a r y psychoanalyst or c r i t i c .

-37-

Strindberg i n The Ghost Sonata larg e l y achieves t h i s

u n i f i e d e f f e c t without a great deal of probing on the

reader's part into the dark recesses of biographical

footnoteso Though i t cannot be denied that a knowledge

of Strindberg's domestic problems, neurosis,idiosyn-

cracies and l i t e r a r y forerunners adds to the understand­

ing of how his creative mind functions, a lack of such

information does not s i g n i f i c a n t l y detract from the over­

a l l merit of his dramatic accomplishments. Indeed, The

Ghost Sonata can stand e n t i r e l y on i t s own as a s e l f -

contained dramatic work of a r t . Be that as i t may, t h i s

study has undertaken to explore the d i r e c t i o n of Strindberg's

mode of dramatic expression by focusing on the form and

techniques he employed i n creating The Ghost Sonata,

Through hindsight the l i t e r a r y h i s t o r i a n and c r i t i c can

r e a d i l y look back to Strindberg and proclaim that he i s

the l i t e r a r y precursor to Expressionism^, i n f a c t the

father to much of our 20th century dramatic heritage.

But r a r e l y i s i t emphasized s u f f i c i e n t l y that Strindberg

despite his powerful imagination did not write h i s dramatic

works i n a l i t e r a r y vacuum void of outside influences.

He was a voracious reader who was abreast of a l l current

l i t e r a r y movements and developments on the Continent,

There are, as s h a l l be seen, numerous references i n his

-38-

l e t t e r s , journals and books to those writers to whom he

owed a l i t e r a r y debt. An examination of The Ghost

Sonata w i l l reveal that while his creative imagination

functions much l i k e the "dream work", the various

techniques employed to express h i s dramatic v i s i o n are

an adaptation and expansion of various contemporary

l i t e r a r y trends on the Continent.

Using the dream as an art-form necessitates finding

or creating l i t e r a r y techniques commensurate with

Strindberg's bizarre and f a n t a s t i c dramatic "dream" v i s i o n

of l i f e . E s s e n t i a l l y Strindberg draws on established

l i t e r a r y techniques used i n naturalism and symbolism

to serve as a basis for his new art-form. While i t i s

not possible within the l i m i t s of t h i s examination to

give d e f i n i t i v e treatment to the o r i g i n s of n a t u r a l i s t i c

and symbolistic representation or to examine them as

independent l i t e r a r y movements, a study of a number of

key t r a i t s of symbolism and naturalism w i l l demonstrate

and c l a r i f y the l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n s Strindberg worked

with. Once aware of the l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n s Strindberg

u t i l i z e d i n creating The Ghost Sonata i t w i l l be possible

to ascertain where he departed from established forms

and broke new ground. It should also be noted that some

prominent l i t e r a r y figures influenced Strindberg's

-39-

dramatic techniques and ultimately the form.

Strindberg's experiments with new modes of expression

were l a r g e l y influenced by the writings of V i l l i e r s ,

Baudelaire, Huysmans, Maeterlinck and Swedenborg. There

i s a common bond loosely defined as symbolism j o i n i n g

these writers. Martin Lamm states that Strindberg was

not a stranger to French symbolism: "he had read

Baudelaire and V i l l i e r s de 1*Isle-Adam with admiration,

assimilated from Huysmans' l a t e r works the demands of

the symbolists, and included Maeterlinck and Pelandan

amoung his household gods."^ Lamm continues by saying

that a f t e r the Inferno C r i s i s Strindberg's writings

smack strongly of symbolism but also "emphasized his

desire to serve as a bridge between occultism and

naturalism, to become 'the Zola of o c c u l t i m s ' . B u t

as Lamm observes, Strindberg often preferred to think of

himself as a "neo-naturalist" by which he apparently

meant that Strindberg "wanted to r e t a i n naturalism's

conquest of r e a l i t y without y i e l d i n g to i t s overestima-

t i o n of s c i e n c e . Y e t the conclusion drawn by Lamm i s

that Strindberg cannot be encompassed within either

naturalism or symbolism and not by a fusion of these two

schools.68 At thi s point I tend to disagree with Lamm

for there i s s u f f i c i e n t evidence, e s p e c i a l l y i n The Ghost

I

-40-

Sonata (also evident i n the other Chamber P l a y s ) , to

suggest that Strindberg achieved the ultimate goal of

developing a l i t e r a r y mode of expression commensurate

with his personal v i s i o n of l i f e through employment and

expansion of n a t u r a l i s t i c and symbolistic techniques.

Lamm i s correct i n concluding that some of Strindberg 1s

work can i n c e r t a i n ways be considered " e x p r e s s i o n i s t i c "

and " s u r r e a l i s t i c " 6 ^ But what do these l i t e r a r y techni­

ques represent i n terms of Strindberg's work i f not i n

the f i n a l analysis a fusion between n a t u r a l i s t i c and

symbolistic techniques?

To begin l e t us turn to Symbolism and examine:

1,) the aims of symbolic representation, and 2.) the

prominent symbolistic l i t e r a r y influences on Strindberg.

Edmund Wilson i n h i s c l a s s i c study of Symbolism,

Axel's Castle, states that:

It was the tendency of Symbolism--that second swing of the pendulum away from a mechanistic view of nature and from a s o c i a l conception of man--to make poetry even more a matter of the sensations and emotions of the i n d i v i d u a l than had been the case with Romanticism: Symbolism, indeed, sometimes had the r e s u l t of making poetry so much a priv a t e concern of the poet's that i t turned out to be i n ­communicable to the reader.70

In order to communicate the unique emotions experienced

by the a r t i s t he resorts to the use of a complex and

-41-

highly p r i v a t e type of symbolization to express the

feelings and sensations that the world around imposes

on him. This i s unlike the conventional use of symbols

i n that symbols are now often chosen a r b i t r a r i l y by the

a r t i s t to suggest his personal ideas and concepts of

experience, they are no longer s t r i c t l y f i x e d , as i n

allegory, to represent an already established idea. In

summing up the doctrine of Symbolism Wilson states:

Every f e e l i n g or sensation we have, every moment of consciousness, i s d i f f e r e n t from every other; and i t i s , i n consequence, impossible to render our sensations as we a c t u a l l y experience them through the con­ventional and uni v e r s a l language of ordinary l i t e r a t u r e . Each poet has his unique personality and f e e l i n g s . Such a language must make use of symbols; what i s so s p e c i a l , so f l e e t i n g and so vague cannot be conveyed by d i r e c t statement or description, but only by a succession of words, of images, which w i l l serve to

Consequently there i s a mystery about t h e i r writings

that needs to be decoded i n order to understand t h e i r

personal language. For Symbolism, again i n Wilson's

words, i s "an attempt by c a r e f u l l y studied means—a

complicated association of ideas represented by a medley

of metaphors:--to communicate unique personal f e e l i n g s . . .

Here those symbols lacking any apparent l o g i c a l r e l a t i o n

are u n i f i e d into a pattern, a "medley of metaphors"

expressing the a r t i s t ' s personal emotional response i n

- 4 2 -

i n a communicable form. In s h o r t , Symbolism i s an attempt

to "meet a' need f o r a new l a n g u a g e " ^ - - a language which

w i l l p r o v i d e a means of e x p r e s s i o n commensurable t o

t h e i r "new c o n c e p t i o n o f r e a l i t y . " ^

As a s p e c t of Symbolism's attempt to "meet a need 7 5

f o r a new language" i s the c r e a t i o n of s u r r e a l i s t i c ' ^

techniques to d e a l w i t h our new p e r c e p t i o n s of r e a l i t y .

D i s t o r t i o n and d e v i a t i o n from the " n a t u r a l " would has

become the hallmark of s u r r e a l i s t i c t e c h n i q u e s . B a s i c a l l y

the use of these techniques was a r e a c t i o n a g a i n s t the

i m i t a t i o n of nature i o a r t and l i t e r a t u r e ? 6 , i . e . , i t i s

a new form o f a n t i - n a t u r a l i s m seeking to e x p l o r e the

i r r a t i o n a l and d i s t o r t e d elements i n l i f e through s u r ­

r e a l i s t i c means. Thus, symbolic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n takes on

a new r e a l i t y s t r i v i n g t o p r e s e n t "das Ding an S i c h " by

f r e e i n g o b j e c t s from t h e i r n a t u r a l framework and a l l o w i n g

the " d i s t o r t e d " o b j e c t t o r e p r e s e n t the poet's v i s i o n of

" r e a l i t y " . As we s h a l l l a t e r see, S t r i n d b e r g p r e s e n t s

l i f e through the means of "deformed r e a l i t y " ^ where the

l o g i c of the n a t u r a l o r d e r i s d i s t o r t e d thereby l e a v i n g

us w i t h a view of r e a l i t y which i s v i s i o n a r y and f a n t a s t i c .

T h i s i s , a g a i n i n M a r t i n Lamm's words, a k i n d of "super­

r e a l i s m " 78 t h a t d e f i e s most o b s e r v a b l e r e a l i t y .

P a r t and p a r c e l o f the 19th c e n t u r y l i t e r a r y world

- 4 3 -

of symbolism are the writings of Emannuel Swedenborg.

Symbolism was influenced by Swedenborg's mysticism,

e s p e c i a l l y h i s pl a t o n i c concepts of "correspondences 1 1

where every physical aspect of t h i s world corresponds

to a s p i r i t u a l q u a l i t y . In other words, the actual

appearance of things on t h i s earth i s a r e f l e c t i o n and

r e v e l a t i o n of the s p i r i t u a l world. The communication

between th i s world and the s p i r i t u a l i s carried out

through symbols where man's earthly perceptions of ob­

ject s reveal an underlying s p i r i t u a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . In

Heaven and H e l l Swedenborg states:

The whole natural world corresponds to the s p i r i t u a l world, and not merely the natural world i n general but also every p a r t i c u l a r of i t ; and as a consequence everything i n the natural world that springs from the s p i r i t u a l world i s c a l l e d correspondence.'9

The problem with Swedenborg*s correspondences i s that

h i s conception of symbol i s somewhat archaic, harkening

back to old-fashioned a l l e g o r y . For him the '.'head"

s i g n i f i e s i n t e l l i g e n c e and wisdom 8^; "bread" i s a f f e c t i o n

for a l l good 8 1; and the "sun" s i g n i f i e s l o v e . 8 2 This

pattern of symbolism s i g n i f y i n g a correspondence between

the worldly and Divine did not greatly i n t e r e s t Swedenborg*s

l a t t e r day l i t e r a r y followers; but the general concept

of correspondences, as a means of expressing the i n v i s i b l e

- 4 4 -

i n v i s i b l e terms, remained. The symbolists, as pointed

out by Anna Balakian 8-*, were among those who discovered

the poetic p o s s i b i l i t i e s of Swedenborg's correspondences.

By r e j e c t i n g the symbol as being a l i t e r a l correspondence

between the Divine and the natural world, they were able

to avoid allegory and begin to probe the areas of the

mind not dominated by the t r a d i t i o n a l concepts of the

Divine and S p i r i t u a l world, and to proceed to explore

those facets of the mind's creations which were very

r e a l to them.

Strindberg had studied the teachings of Swedenborg

during the l a t e r part of h i s Inferno C r i s i s (1896-1897)

and i n En Bla Bok (1907), dedicated to Swedenborg, he

writes: "Poetry's essence consists of finding cor­

respondences on d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s (Swedenborg's cor-

espondences)." 8 4 He, l i k e the Symbolists, was not only

inspired by Swedenborg's mysticism, but was e s p e c i a l l y

drawn toward his concept of "correspondences". 8 5 Though

Strindberg's movement toward the p o s i t i o n of a r e l i g i o u s

v i s i o n a r y began p r i o r to h i s aquaintance with the 18th

century r e l i g i o u s mystic, h i s v i s i o n was reinforced by

Swedenborg. But Strindberg's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Swedenborg

took a s i n i s t e r turn when Swedenborg's view of H e l l became

for Strindberg a d e s c r i p t i o n of l i f e on earth, where man

- 4 5 -

was damned to suffer the curse of being born 9 Swedenborg's

theory of ••correspondences" i s i n a d i s t r e s s l i n g l y d i s ­

torted manner adapted i n The Ghost Sonata, for the world

presented here i s a world of intimations unmasking a

disconcerting sham r e a l i t y of existence,

Strindberg was also a great admirer of Maurice 86

Maeterlinck and shared i n h i s mystical world by de­

parting from r e a l i t y to probe the i n d i v i d u a l ' s experience

i n a d i s i n t e g r a t i n g world order. In Open Letters to the

Intimate Theater i n reference to Maeterlinck he writes:

"His Inferno world i s i n the s p i r i t of Swedenborg, but

there i s l i g h t i n the darkness, beauty i n the s u f f e r i n g ,

and sympathy with everything that l i v e s . But i t i s a

world of despair, d i a s t e r , h e a v i n e s s , 1 , 8 7 The evocation

of mood and atmosphere, rather than the presentation of

r e a l i s t i c a l l y concrete events through symbols was c e n t r a l

for Maeterlinck, He, l i k e the Symbolist, attempts to

reveal the mystery of inner l i f e and the s p i r i t u a l

harmony between v i s i b l e and i n v i s i b l e r e a l i t y . R e a l i s t i c

theater neglected man's soul and his unknown destiny i n

the universe by simply presenting such externals as habits,

passions, m i l i e u etc,, while Maeterlinck f e l t the need to

portray the s p i r i t ' s c o n f l i c t with i t s mysterious f a t e .

He portrays t h i s struggle i n symbolic terms much as

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Baudelaire and Mallarme had done i n poetry, but now i n

dramatic form.

Naturalism, as discussed e a r l i e r (pp, 2-7), could

not e f f e c t i v e l y deal with the subterranean feelings of

se n s i t i v e human beings for l i f e i s too complex--partaking

of both the v i s i b l e and i n v i s i b l e worlds. R e a l i t y i n

The Ghost Sonata can be viewed i n the same l i g h t as one

sees dreams. There i s a c e r t a i n dream-like q u a l i t y

about t h i s drama making i t both f a n t a s t i c and act u a l ,

as i f there i s a mysterious and t e r r i f y i n g r e a l i t y

behind i t . Like the dream, the world Strindberg portrays

i s p a r t l y concrete and p a r t l y abstract. While using the

dream as a basis for an art-form, he u t i l i z e s c e r t a i n

symbolistic techniques to paint the abstract and

f a n t a s t i c while r e t a i n i n g n a t u r a l i s t i c techniques to

root his v i s i o n i n concrete r e a l i t y . The whole e f f e c t o f The Ghost Sonata i s s i m i l a r to Freud's e x p l i c a t i o n

of "dream-distortions" where fragments of actual occurences

in r e a l i t y are combined and compressed into a composite

fantasy p i c t u r e . Let us now proceed to examine these

techniques as employed i n The Ghost Sonata, *

-47-

Chapter Four: Inside the Metaphorical House of Dreams

The Ghost Sonata opens with a balanced n a t u r a l i s t i c

set: a s o l i d upper-class house i n the center consisting

b a s i c a l l y of the Hyacinth Room and the Round Room, a

drinking fountain to the r i g h t ; and an advertisement

column to the l e f t . However a l l i s not as s o l i d as the

external appearances would suggest, the inhabitants of

the house are to be stripped of a l l t h e i r deceptive masks.

On the f i r s t f l o o r resides a Colonel with a respected

name--but his t i t l e i s f a l s e ; he i s not the father to

his daughter; remove his mustache, wig and f a l s e teeth

and undo his metal stays and he becomes a former servant.

The b e a u t i f u l woman he married has been transformed into

a Mummy, only a statue r e f l e c t i n g her former beauty

reveals how she once looked. The G i r l , the daughter to

the Mummy, who prefers to remain amoung the flowers i n

the "Hyacinth Room", i s s u f f e r i n g from a terminal disease.

Hummel, the old man, former lover of the Mummy and father

to the G i r l , i s now a c r i p p l e pushed around the streets

i n a wheelchair (his "war c h a r i o t " 8 8 ) creating "havoc

with human d e s t i n i e s " (p. 281). He forces himself into

the Colonel's house, joins the "ghost supper" (p. 284)

and proceeds to s t r i p the members of the household of

the i r deceptive masks and reveals the " r e a l " beings.

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for they are not what they appear to be: the Baron, a

former jewel t h i e f , was once the Mummy's lover and i s now

the lover of the caretaker's daughter; Bengtsson, now

Hummel's servant, was once Hummel's master. Hummel, who

is also not what he appears to be, i s himself unmasked

by the Mummy:

We are miserable human beings, that we know. We have erred and we have sinned, we l i k e a l l the r e s t . We are not what we seem, be­cause at the bottom we are better than our­selves, since we detest our s i n s . But when you, Jacob Hummel, with your f a l s e name, choose to s i t i n judgement over us, you prove yourself worse than us miserable sinners. For you are not the one you appear to be. (p. 293)

She then catalogues the crimes he i s gu i l i y of and summons

Bengtsson to give the f i n a l blow. It appears that

Hummel murdered an innocent young g i r l for having

witnessed a crime he had committed, and the v i s i o n of

the Milkmaid as t h i s event i s r e c a l l e d i s s u f f i c i e n t to

cause Hummel to hang himself.

Strindberg, however, does not conclude the play i n

Scene II with the revelations of the d e c e i t f u l and

miserable l i v e s led by the ind i v i d u a l s gathered at the

"ghost supper" which culminated with Hummel*s death. Far

from i t , the roots of e v i l begun i n a previous generation

are not terminated with the exposure of the household*s

inhabitants for what they are; far worse, i t has infected

-49-

th e younger generation. Though the Old M a n would l i k e

to do one good deed before his death, he i s unable to

see th i s wish f u l f i l l e d . It was his hope that through

a union between the innocent Student and the G i r l the

corruption hidden behind the respectable facade of the

house would be prevented from tarnishing her beauty.

Despite Hummel8s attempt to do good, the " f e a r f u l l y

complicated" (p. 277) r e l a t i o n s lurking behind the re­

spectable facade are so morally corrupt that i n the end

even the i d e a l i s t i c Student cannot save the Gi r l - - s h e

has been sapped of a l l her energy and v i t a l i t y by the

morally corrupt r e l a t i o n s within the house. The G i r l

dies while the Student ends the play on a note of quiet

resignation, accepting our worldly fate, miserable though

i t be, by sublimating his despair into a b e l i e f that there

i s a l i f e beyond death i n a s p i r i t u a l world.

On clo s e r analysis i t w i l l become c l e a r that Strindberg

i n The Ghost Sonata i s , above a l l else, presenting a o n

v i s i o n of l i f e as seen and to l d by a "truth t e l l e r "

possessing a double v i s i o n of d a i l y l i f e . In e f f e c t

Strindberg i s here presenting a s p i r i t u a l voyage through

the House of L i f e ^ - - a voyage undertaken by the innocent

"Sunday's C h i l d " (p. 281), the Student Arkenholtz, who

has been blessed and i s consequently damned by the g i f t

- 5 0 -

of "second si g h t " (p. 276).

The c e n t r a l motif i n The Ghost Sonata ultimately-

leading to the Student's v i s i o n of r e a l i t y i s the use

of man's fa c u l t y of v i s u a l perception. The eye, the

instrument of v i s u a l perception, and the process of

seeing i s mentioned nearly one hundred times. This

great emphasis on perception i s the underlying motif

on which the enti r e play i s b u i l t . Of the f i v e senses

sight i s no doubt the most important i n determining the

r e a l i t y of the world around us. It i s probably also

the most deceptive of the senses as a r e s u l t of the

numerous o p t i c a l i l l u s i o n s the eyes, i n conjunction with

our mental f a c u l t i e s , can play. Society i s , a f t e r a l l ,

v i s u a l l y - o r i e n t e d and i f one cannot r e l y on v i s u a l per­

ceptions as a stable and accurate foundation to base our

conception of r e a l i t y on, what then can we trust?

The Student i s faced with a perceptual problem, f o r

he perceives (by our t r a d i t i o n a l conception of r e a l i t y )

both the " r e a l " and "unreal" aspects of l i f e . The

problem of what i s " r e a l " and "unreal" tends to become

rather confusing. What f i r s t appears i d e a l becomes a

r e a l i t y which i n turn appears "unreal" but i s i n fac t

" r e a l " - - i . e . , the Student gains entrance to the Colonel's

house which on f i r s t sight appears i d e a l but on closer

-51-

scrunity becomes somewhat unreal, yet i n the f i n a l

analysis i t i s neither i d e a l or unreal but r e a l i t y or

l i f e as i t a c t u a l l y i s . The double v i s i o n or "second

s i g h t " (p. 276), t h i s sight behind r e a l sight, granted

the Student i s his a b i l i t y to Vsee what others can't"

(p. 275). He relates an episode to Hummel about h i s

v i s i o n :

Yesterday, for instance...I was drawn to that obscure street where l a t e r on the house collapsed. I went there and stopped i n front of that building which I had never seen before. Then I noticed a crack i n the wall...I heard the f l o o r boards snapping...I dashed over and picked up a c h i l d that was passing under the w a l l . . . The next moment the house collapsed. I was saved, but i n my arms, which I thought held the c h i l d , was nothing at a l l . (pp. 275-6)

The Student has the a b i l i t y to see l i f e ideally--he has

a v i s i o n of innocence, symbolically made manifest i n

the guise of the Milkmaid, On the other hand, a f t e r

having been exposed to Hummel and his extended household

the Student perceives the corrupt and base nature of

existence. It i s his a b i l i t y to see l i f e both i d e a l l y

and as i t i s i n fact that drives home Strindberg's

v i s i o n of l i f e on t h i s earth as a h e l l which man must

endure u n t i l released by death.

It i s important to note that the Student i s a

student of philology (p, 273), but the language which he

-52-

i s presently learning i n the Colonel's house i s the

language of L i f e — h e finds the key unlocking the door

which reveals the nightmarish anguish of existence.

Language plays a key r o l e i n the masking and unmasking

of L i f e ' s r e a l i t i e s . Hummel t e l l s the "select gathering"

(p. 288):

Silence cannot hide anything--but words can. I read the other day that d i f ­ferences of language originated among savages for the purpose of keeping one trib e ' s secrets hidden from another. Every language therefore i s a code, and he who finds the key can understand every language i n the world. But t h i s does not prevent secrets from being exposed without a key...(p. 292)

For years language has been the ve h i c l e for covering-up

the r e a l i d e n t i t i e s of those gathered for the "ghost

supper". But suddenly the tongue i s loosened and with

a torrent of words the e n t i r e company i s unmasked, f i r s t

by Hummel and then by the Mummy. This unmasking of the

guests i s s i m i l a r to the story the Student t e l l s about

his father:

He made an enormous speech i n which he stripped the whole company naked, one a f t e r the other, and told them of a l l t h e i r treachery. Then, t i r e d out, he sat down on the table and tol d them a l l to go to h e l l . (p. 302)

These revelations by Hummel, the Mummy and the Student's

-53-

father t e l l us something about the deceptive nature of

human beings but i t i s not the key revealing l i f e . It

is only the Student with his g i f t of "second si g h t " who

has the "key". Thus language appears not to be the most

important key, rather i t i s the v i s u a l perceptions which

are most important i n apprehending what l i f e i s .

As t h i s r i t e of i n i t i a t i o n into the depravity of

the human race unfolds, the Student comes to the r e a l i z a ­

t i o n that his v i s i o n of i d e a l beauty--the "paradise"

represented by the seemingly unattainable goal of entering

into the Colonel's house--is shattered. In scene 1 the

Student, i n reference to the house, states:

Yes, I've been looking at i t a l o t . I passed i t yesterday when the sun was shining on the windowpanes, and I imagined a l l the beauty and elegance there must be i n s i d e 0 I said to my companion: "Think of l i v i n g up there i n the top f l a t , with a b e a u t i f u l young wife, two pretty l i t t l e c h i l d r e n and an income of twenty thousand crowns a year." (p. 274)

Later on, i n scene 3 a f t e r having entered the house he

sees t h i s "paradise" for the h e l l i t i s . Note the

shattered dream i n the f i n a l scene, when i n speaking of

the house he has entered, he says:

And yet I thought i t was paradise i t s e l f that f i r s t time 1 saw you coming i n here. There I stood that Sunday morning, gazing i n . I saw a Colonel who was no Colonel.

- 5 4 -

I had a benefactor who was a th i e f and had to hang himself. I saw a mummy who was not a mummy and an old maid--what of the maidenhood, by the way? (p, 302)

His id e a l conception of l i f e i s unalterably smashed and

cannot be regained through conventional r e a l i t y . "Where

i s beauty to be found?" i s the Student's r h e t o r i c a l

question, "In nature, and i n my own mind, when i t i s i n

i t s Sunday clothes. Where are honor and f a i t h ? In

f a i r y tales and children's fancies. Where i s anything

that f u l f i l l s i t s promise? In my imagination." (p. 303)

Here one witnesses a s h i f t i n the Student's v i s i o n of

"paradise" from a v i s u a l r e a l i t y rooted i n earthly

r e a l i t y to an id e a l conception of paradise conjured up

in the mind's eye. R e a l i t y as i t has been exposed i n

v i s u a l terms during the Student's voyage through the

House of L i f e does not l i v e up to the i d e a l he en­

visioned when he f i r s t passed the house (see above quote).

The disgusting r e a l i t y of l i f e depicted i n v i s i b l e

terms by Strindberg i s perceived by the Student for the

sham i t i s , t h i s t i s s u e of l i e s and deceit t y i n g %

humanity together cannot be escaped except through the

imagination. The Student does not assert his i n d i v i d u a l

w i l l but prefers to drop out of the common l i f e , as

represented by the Colonel's household, and insulate

himself from th i s world i n order that he might c u l t i v a t e

-55-

the i d e a l dream v i s i o n of l i f e . He finds r e a l i t y a

nightmare once he has entered t h i s metaphorical House

of L i f e by finding solace i n the world of the imagination--

only there can l i f e be f i l l e d with serene i d y l l i c beauty,

for when the objective world i s momentarily forsaken for

the subjective one can retr e a t to experience beauty.

It i s also through the Student's i n c i s i v e percep­

t i v e f a c u l t i e s that we spectators of his metaphorical

dream journey through the House of L i f e are made aware

of the dream nature of the play. The Student t e l l s the

dying G i r l , "Sleep without dreaming, and when you

wake...may you be greeted by a sun that does not burn,

i n a home without flaw." (p. 304) Here a l l indications

are that l i f e has been a dream, a h o r r i b l e nightmare,

which sleep (death) w i l l d e l i v e r us from. Yet there i s

a f r i g h t f u l r e a l i t y behind the dream for the Student's

dream corresponds to r e a l i t y as experienced by us

earthly creatures. Whereas Swedenborg's correspondences

reveal the s p i r i t u a l world, the Student's (Strindberg's)

v i s i o n reveals the '.'real" world, not the s p i r i t u a l world

to come, but the ac t u a l . This candid glimpse of humanity

i s only made possible by Strindberg's adherence to the

dream-form as a basis for the dramatic form. This point

cannot be over-emphasized for the l o g i c of the dream-form

-56

becomes apparent when seen i n the l i g h t of Freud's

study of "dream-work".

It i s the strange, one i s tempted to c a l l i t

"absurd", mixture of the quite ordinary r e a l i t i e s of

everyday l i f e with the f a n t a s t i c , somewhat unreal elements

that makes The Ghost Sonata a dramatic powerhouse. But

strangeness alone does not make a great play, rather i t

i s Strindberg's a b i l i t y to portray the r e a l i t y that l i e s

beneath surface r e a l i t y through c l e v e r l y controlled

means. What makes the whole play p l a u s i b l e and conse­

quently comprehensible i s the r o l e played by the Student.

Above I suggested that the Student has a perceptual

problem, a problem which cannot be r e a d i l y accepted on

r a t i o n a l grounds, but i n the dream idiom a l l i s possible,

including the Student's double v i s i o n .

The c e n t r a l p o s i t i o n of the Student gives the play

a u n i f i e d form for he i s the dreamer who observes a l l

the strange adventures i n the Colonel's house. It i s

important to note that despite the absence of the

Student's active p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n scene 2 , he i s never­

theless present to observe the unmasking of the e n t i r e

household. On t h i s point Strindberg's stage d i r e c t i o n s

are e x p l i c i t : "He shows the Student into the Hyacinth

Room, where he remains v i s i b l e , t a l k i n g shyly to the G i r l "

-57-

(p. 291, underlining mine). The Student may be

"spared" (p, 292) temporarily from active p a r t i c i p a t i o n

i n a flushing out of the truth, but he i s a witness to

i t .

Again, the u n i t y of the e n t i r e play i s brought about

by the use of the dream idiom which i n turn lends

c l a r i t y and l o g i c to the dramatic form. The e n t i r e play

i s composed of dream play images--images whose f u l l

s i g n i f i c a n c e i s not apprehended u n t i l the conclusion

of the play when one discovers that the Student has been

dreaming about L i f e . He has been dreaming about the

Truth, the truth that l i e s beneath l i f e ' s deceptive

facade. What he has seen i n the Colonel's house i s a

symbolic representation, correspondence i f you w i l l ,

of what l i f e i s . If we now return to the play i t i s

possible to see more c l e a r l y that the form follows the

psychical dream much l i k e Freud's concept of the dream-

work.

********

To return to the play i s to discover that the dream-

form can be broken into three basic categories: the

n a t u r a l i s t i c , symbolistic and s u r r e a l i s t i c techniques.

Each of these l i t e r a r y techniques mirrors r e a l i t y d i f -

- 5 8 -

f e r e n t l y according to the type of mirror used--the

n a t u r a l i s t i c mirror has the least d i s t o r t i o n but i s

also the f l a t t e s t i n that i t r e f l e c t s r e l a t i v e l y l i t t l e

depth; the symbolistic and s u r r e a l i s t i c mirrors are

clouded and wavy, r e f l e c t i n g the v i s i b l e while pointing

to the i n v i s i b l e world on the other side of the mirror.

As noted e a r l i e r , on f i r s t appearance The Ghost

Sonata appears deceptively n a t u r a l i s t i c . The meticu­

lo u s l y precise stage d i r e c t i o n s describing the modern

turn-of-the-century house with i t s balcony, f l a g s t a f f ,

b linds, marble statue, Round Room, Hyacinth Room, flowers,

window-mirror, drinking fountain, advertisement column,

etc. (p. 2 6 9 ) , plus the descriptions of the Old Man,

Milkmaid, Student, the sounds of the church b e l l s , steam­

ship b e l l s and organ music (pp. 2 6 9 - 2 7 0 ) are reminiscent

of n a t u r a l i s t i c staging. Though t h i s i l l u s i o n i s soon

shattered when we discover that the Milkmaid i s a

symbolic phantom figure (p. 2 7 6 ) , the play s t i l l pro­

l i f e r a t e s i n the use of n a t u r a l i s t i c techniques. Though

these techniques are somewhat displaced i n t h i s " f a i r y

story" (p. 274) t h e i r presence, notwithstanding, cannot

be ignored. On one l e v e l Strindberg employs n a t u r a l i s t i c

techniques by including many d e t a i l s based on observed

r e a l i t y (see above, pp. 3 1 - 3 2 ) which are here synthesized

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i n t o The Ghost Sonata.

In many ways the play develops along n a t u r a l i s t i c

l i n e s i n that the depiction of race, m i l i e u and moment

are a representation of l i f e along the li n e s of scien­

t i f i c determinism. Though t h i s may be a somewhat

oblique approach to t h i s play, on c l o s e i n s p e c t i o n i t i s

possible to see the basis for such a statement. There

i s an element of n a t u r a l i s t i c tragedy introduced by

Strindberg since the " f e a r f u l l y complicated" (p. 277)

i n t e r r e l a t i o n s of the household's inhabitants suggest

that t h e i r fate has been preordained through a combination

of heredity, environment and h i s t o r y . The Student and

the G i r l cannot escape t h e i r fate for "crimes, secrets

and g u i l t " (p. 289) bind humanity together into a

single s u f f e r i n g l o t . But these n a t u r a l i s t i c overtones

are generally obscured by the dense forest of symbols

introduced by Strindberg. Here again Strindberg does

not remain true to the canons of naturalism, but forces

the n a t u r a l i s t i c elements to take on ramifications be­

yond t h e i r n a t u r a l i s t i c meanings.

The symbolic aspects are c l e a r l y apprehended when

one views The Ghost Sonata as a s p i r i t u a l voyage through

l i f e . As pointed out by J . R. Northam, from the beginning

of the play Strindberg has created, despite the natural-

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i s t i c stage setting, an atmosphere that i s both

r e l i g i o u s and gives the impression of a sea-voyage« In

the introductory stage di r e c t i o n s the e x p l i c i t i n structions

include the sounds of church b e l l s (p. 269), steamship

b e l l s and organ music (p. 270). The f u l l s i g n i f i c a n c e

of these sounds becomes apparent at the conclusion of

the play when BBcklin's pi c t u r e , The Is l e of the Dead.

is projected at a distance and the sound of soft sweet

and melancholy music i s heard (p„ 304). Here the Student's

talk of death as a journey and the appearance of BOcklin's

picture picks up the sounds f i r s t heard i n the opening

scene. There i s here,in Edmund Wilson's words, "a

medley of metaphors" at work conveying an image of a

s p i r i t u a l voyage through l i f e .

During the course of t h i s journey the Student has

been i n i t i a t e d into the nightmarish r e a l i t y of l i f e which

f a l l s far short of any i d e a l conception of r e a l i t y he

had entertained p r i o r to entering "paradise"--this

earthly and corrupt house. Johansson, the Old Man's

servant, says, "what a h o r r i b l e housel And the Student

was longing to get i n , as i f i t were paradise." (p. 286)

The Student finds i t necessary to transcend disorder--

and the entire household i s i n a great state of disorder--

i n order to a t t a i n , i n a mystical sense, the i d e a l

harmony. The Student's voyage i s a journey to paradise,

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a j o u r n e y t h a t a s p i r e s t o h a r m o n y and o r d e r . B u t t h i s

j o u r n e y i s b e s e t b y d i s o r d e r , w h e r e t h e u n r e a l i t y o f t h e

n i g h t m a r e m a t e r i a l i z e d a s t h e r e a l t h i n g .

A s s u g g e s t e d e a r l i e r , o ne i s c o n f r o n t e d w i t h " d e ­

f o r m e d r e a l i t y " , a k i n d o f " s u p e r - r e a l i s m " t h a t d e f i e s

t h e l o g i c o f c o n v e n t i o n a l r e a l i t y . T he r e s u l t o f S t r i n d b e r g ' s

v i s i o n a r y f l i g h t i s much t h e same a s i n F r e u d ' s "dream-

w o r k " ( s e e a b o v e p p . 21-24) w h e r e s u r r e a l , f a n t a s t i c a n d

b i z a r r e e f f e c t s , h e r e a p p r o a c h i n g a n i g h t m a r i s h s t a t e ,

r e f l e c t t h e r e a l i t i e s o f d a i l y e x i s t e n c e . The s u r r e a l ­

i s t i c e l e m e n t s i n The G h o s t S o n a t a h a v e much i n common

w i t h t h e f u n c t i o n o f " d i s p l a c e m e n t " i n t h e d r e a m - w o r k .

The two f o r m s o f d i s p l a c e m e n t F r e u d w r o t e o f a r e : t h e

s u b s t i t u t i o n o f one l a t e n t e l e m e n t f o r a n o t h e r ; and a

s h i f t o f e m p h a s i s f r o m a n i m p o r t a n t e l e m e n t t o a r e l a ­

t i v e l y u n i m p o r t a n t o n e . S u c h d i s p l a c e m e n t o f e l e m e n t s

may s h i f t t h e e n t i r e c e n t e r o f t h e d r e a m , g i v i n g i t a

d i s t o r t e d o r e v e n s u r r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t . The most n o t a b l e

s u r r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t i n T h e G h o s t S o n a t a i s t h e a p p e a r a n c e

o f t h e Cook w i t h t h e J a p a n e s e b o t t l e o f s o y a ( p . 300).

T h i s s e e m i n g l y m i n o r a p p e a r a n c e t a k e s o n f a r g r e a t e r

i m p o r t a n c e t h a n w o u l d n o r m a l l y be s u p p o s e d ( n o t e

S t r i n d b e r g ' s l e t t e r t o S c h e r i n g , A p r i l 7, 1907--see a b o v e

p . 32). H e r e S t r i n d b e r g ' s h y p e r s e n s i t i v i t y r e g i s t e r s t h e

s m a l l a n d s e e m i n g l y u n i m p o r t a n t d e t a i l s w i t h t h e g r e a t e s t

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c l a r i t y and then builds them up a l l out of f a i r pro­

portions. Note that the natural order of the household

i s a l l topsy-turvy--the insubordinate domestics are more

of a hinderance than a help, giving orders i s to no

a v a i l for the entir e household, servants and a l l , i s

f u l l of defects (pp. 299-301). Thus the Cook's i n ­

trusion i s only i n keeping with other incongruous images

produced by unnatural combinations such as the Mummy

who p r a t t l e s l i k e a parrot and s i t s i n a c l o s e t , a

Milkmaid who i s a phantom and a dead man who walks (p. 279).

In fact much i n the play i s seen i n a rather un­

natural l i g h t where n a t u r a l i s t i c and r e a l i s t i c elements

are pushed beyond t h e i r natural l i m i t s . Hence a sur­

r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t i s achieved where the object i s freed

from i t s natural framework. It i s p r e c i s e l y Strindberg*s

a b i l i t y to force the n a t u r a l i s t i c and r e a l i s t i c elements

to extreme usage which lends a s u r r e a l i s t i c atmosphere

to the play as indicated by the above described proceedings.

The Ghost Sonata, much l i k e the dream, defies

nature's forms and perspectives, yet i t r e f l e c t s an under­

ly i n g r e a l i t y which i s related to the distorted r e a l i t y

made manifest i n the course of the Student's "journey". 91

These so-called "dream d i s t o r t i o n s " are the r e s u l t of

the "dream-work's" four stages of dream a c t i v i t y ; con-

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densation, displacement, p l a s t i c representation and

secondary elaboration (see above pp. 21-23). The

mystery of the dream state as explored and explained by

Freud turns the i l l o g i c a l , f a n t a s t i c , b i z a r r e , grotesque

and absurd aspects of dreams into a communicable pattern

of images which on closer analysis r e f l e c t the dreamer's

d a i l y r e a l i t y . Likewise Strindberg's creation of the

Student's dream v i s i o n i s a r e f l e c t i o n of an inner

r e a l i t y that corresponds i n many ways to external r e a l i t y .

The sources for the Student's dream are based on observed

r e a l i t y (see above pp. 29-33), but they are d e f i n i t e l y

d i s t o r t e d i n the "dream-work" process, giv i n g off the

appearance of being both natural and unnatural. To

present h i s v i s i o n of r e a l i t y Strindberg employs i n the

dream-form n a t u r a l i s t i c , symbolistic and s u r r e a l i s t i c

techniques, and they are, as explained by Freud, i n ­

t r i n s i c to the dream-work(see above pp. 21-25).

Thus i t was Strindberg's i n c i s i v e v i s i o n of l i f e

that led to the creation of a new dramatic form by using

the dream-form and n a t u r a l i s t i c , symbolistic and sur­

r e a l i s t i c techniques. The r e s u l t of th i s mixture of form

and technique i s the reintroduction of fantasy i n the

theater. We now have what Pflr Lagerkvist (see above

pp. 8-10) c a l l e d a "gradual renewal of the theater."

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A " l i t t l e of everything" i s employed i n The Ghost Sonata

but employed i n such a manner as to form a cohesive

unity of expression leading to "greater proportions and

more splendid forms."^ 2

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Chapter Five: Conclusion

Strindberg's genius l i e s not simply i n his adoption

of symbolistic and s u r r e a l i s t i c techniques, but i n his

poetic fusing of the introspective dream v i s i o n s with

n a t u r a l i s t i c techniques. Strindberg did not choose

the a l t e r n a t i v e s of Symbolism and Naturalism, but rather

he merged the two to provide us with a v i s i o n of l i f e

more complex, more complete and more mysterious than

previously expressed i n dramatic form. It i s p r e c i s e l y

t h i s a b i l i t y to j o i n the symbolist's c u l t of the s e l f ,

t h i s r e a l i z a t i o n of an inner v i s i o n , with the n a t u r a l i s t ' s

a b i l i t y to present l i f e o b j e c t i v e l y , that i s made manifest

i n The Ghost Sonata. Strindberg turns the inner exper­

ience into an expressible form by employing both the

techniques of symbolism and naturalism to lend i n t e r ­

pretation to his v i s i o n of man's state of being. Hence

i n The Ghost Sonata we have the o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n of an

inner experience molded into a communicable pattern and

form.

The dreams and hal l u c i n a t i o n s his hypersensitive

soul experiences are the basis for Strindberg's a r t - - i n

Alone he t e l l s of how he often translates experiences,

t h i s "excess of impressions that force themselves on me"

into p o e t r y . ^ But note that there i s always the process

I

-66-

of s e l e c t i v i t y working, i n other words, the experiences

he translates become the "edited r e a l i t y " of both ob­

j e c t i v e and subjective observances.

In summary, a b r i e f restatement of the problem

discussed i n this examination i s i n order. F i r s t one

i s dealing with the nature of Strindberg's mode of

dramatic expression--techniques, content and form--in

The Ghost Sonata. We began by examining the f a i l u r e s

of naturalism and proceeded to explore the d i r e c t i o n

of Strindberg's l i t e r a r y c r e a t i v i t y ; naturalism proved

to be too l i m i t i n g , and i n expressing h i s v i s i o n

Strindberg proceeded to press the l i m i t s of " r e a l i t y "

into the world of dreams, v i s i o n s , h a l l u c i n a t i o n s and

u n r e a l i t y . To express i n dramatic form the " i n c i s i v e

i n t e n s i t y of his v i s i o n " Strindberg turns to the world

of dreams. On the one hand h i s creative f a c u l t i e s create

a v i s i o n of events and incidents i n l i f e i n a manner

s i m i l a r to the "dream-work" functions i n the psych i c a l

dream. On the other hand he transforms the dream into

an art-form where the dream now becomes a l i t e r a r y

motif which i s used to express a personal worldview

of r e a l i t y . In order to communicate h i s view, Strindberg

fuses symbolistic and s u r r e a l i s t i c techniques with

n a t u r a l i s t i c techniques. Though he i s not the o r i g i n a t o r

- 6 7 -

of any one of these techniques of expression he was

highly successful i n fusing and expanding the use of

them into an expressive format which i n retrospect has

become a basis for much of 20th century dramatic art,,

In The Ghost Sonata we examined and found the form and

content, while marked with what we now know as the

Strindbergian q u a l i t y , to be influenced by both Symbolism

and Naturalism. To conclude, i t i s safe to say that

with the current material a v a i l a b l e , Strindberg had at

least one eye focused on r e a l i s t i c representation

(his n a t u r a l i s t i c impulses) while the other eye explored

the subjective dimensions of the human experience (his

symbolistic impulses), f o r he, cl e a r e r than any fore-

bearer or for that matter many followers, was able to

present his subjective worldview with c l a r i t y through

manipulation of l i t e r a r y techniques. Therefore r e v o l t

and renewal mark Strindberg*s dramatic creations--re-

v o l t i n that he found the current n a t u r a l i s t i c mode of

expression too l i m i t i n g , and renewal i n hi s return to

the creative fantasy of imaginative presentation of l i f e

on the stage by blending the subjective world with the

o b j e c t i v i t y of the n a t u r a l i s t . The r e s u l t , as seen i n

The Ghost Sonata, i s a p e r f e c t l y c o n t r o l l e d excursion

into the dream world of r e a l i t y .

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Footnotes

1 August Strindberg, Open Letters to the Intimate Theater, Walter Johnson trans. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1 9 6 6 ) , pp. 1 6 - 1 7 .

2 A l r i k Gustafson, A History of Swedish L i t e r a t u r e (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1961), pp. 2 6 3 - 2 6 4 .

3 Lawson Carter, Zola and the Theater (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1 9 6 3 ) , pp. 165-166.

4 Emile Zola, Les Oeuvres Completes: Theatre _I, Preface to Therese Raquin (P a r i s : Francois Bernouard), P. I I I .

B#tge Geds# Madsen, Strindberg's N a t u r a l i s t i c Theatre (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1 9 6 2 ) , P. 1 5 3 .

6 Ibid., p. 1 4 .

7 Ibid., p. 1 7 . Q

Martin E s s l i n , R e f l e c t i o n s : Essays on Modern Theater. (Garden C i t y : Doubleday & Co., 1971) 9 pp .~T7-19.

9 Ibid., p. 1 8 .

*0 Pflr Lagerkvist, "Modern Theater: Points of View and Attack" i n The Genius of the Scandinavian Theater. Evert Sprinchorn ed. (New York: Mentor, 1 9 6 4 ) , p. 6 2 4 .

1 1 Ibid., p. 6 0 6 .

p. 6 1 2 .

p. 6 0 7 .

p. 6 1 4 .

p. 6 1 4 .

p. 6 1 5 .

1 2 Ibid. 1 3 Ibid. 1 4 Ibid. 1 5 Ibid. 1 6 Ibid.

I 7 August Strindberg, "Om modernt drama och modern teater" i n Strindberg om drama och teater (Stockholm: Scandinavian University Books, 19o8), p."3o^

69-

1 8 Ibid., p. 35. 1 9 Ibid., p. 36. 2 0 Ibid., p. 41. 2 ^ Maurice Valency, The Flower and the Castle (New

York: Glosset and Dun lop, I96~3), p.~7o"8. 22 Ibid., p. 267.

23 August Strindberg, S k r i f t e r , V o l . XIII, Brflnda Tomten, Gunnar Brandell ed. (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers "Fflrlag, 1946), p. 324. (Translation mine)

2 ^ Gustafson, p. 255. 2 5 August Strindberg, Six Plays of Strindberg. Elizabeth

Sprigge trans. (Garden C i t y : Doubleday & Co., 1955), p. 61. 2 6 Ibid., p. 62. 2 7 I b i d . , p. 65. 2 8 E l i z a b e t h Sprigg trans., p. 193. 29

For more information on t h i s phase of Strindberg's l i f e , see Gunnar Brandell, Strindbergs Infernokris (Stockholm: Bonniers Vttrlag, 1950).

J U August Strindberg, S k r i f t e r . V o l . IX 9 Legender. Gunnar Brandell ed..(Stockholm: Albert Bonniers FOrlag, 1946), p. 190.

A The numerous s i m i l a r i t i e s between Strindberg's dramatic works and the German Expressionist school of writers has been pointed out i n Carl Dahlstrttm's pioneering study, Strindberg's Dramatic Expressionism (New York: Benjamin Blom Inc., 1968).

August Strindberg, A Dream Play and the Ghost Sonata. Robert W. Corrigan Intro. (San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Co., 1966), p. XV.

This material f i r s t appeared i n Die Traumdeutung tiber den Traum (1900), but for our purposes i s condensed into a more c l e a r l y apprehended form i n Vorlesungen zur Einfiihrung i n die Psychoanalyse. (1917).

-70-

3 4 Sigmund Freud, Vorlesungen zur Einftihrung i n die Psychoanalyse: Gesammelte Werke XI (Frankfurt: S. Fischer Verlag, 1966), pp.~T7jUl74.

3 5 Ibid., p. 175. 3 6 Ibid., p. 185. 3 7 Corrigen, p. XVI. 3 8 Freud, p. 186. 3 9 There are too many p a r a l l e l s between the Student's

i n c i s i v e v i s i o n and Strindberg's to doubt that the Student i s anything but an author surrogate.

4 ^ Evert Sprinchorn, i n Intro, to Inferno. Alone and Other Writings (Garden C i t y : Anchor Books, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1968), p. 90.

4 1 August Strindberg, Alone. Evert Sprinchorn trans., in Inferno. Alone and Other Writings (Garden C i t y : Anchor Books, Doubleday &Co., Inc., 1968), p. 408.

4 2 Gunnar Brandell, "Toward a New Art Form", Evert Sprinchorn trans., i n The Genius of the Scandinavian Theater (New York: Mentor Books, The New American Library, 1964), p. 586.

4 3 August Strindberg, S k r i f t e r , V o l . IX, p. 169. 4 4 Brandell, p. 506. 4 5 Dahlstr«m, p. 15. 4 6 Karin Smirnoff, Sa var det i verkligheten (Stockholm:

1956), p. 205. 4 7 August Strindberg, Inferno. Alone and Other Writings,

p. 385. 4 8 Ibid., pp. 385-386. 4 9 Ibid., p. 386.

5° Martin Lamm, Strindbergs Dramer. Del II (Stockholm: Al b e r t Bonniers Fdrlag, 1926), p* ,396i -

-71-

5 1 Michael Meyer, trans.. The Plays of Strindberg (New York: Vintage Books, 19 /277~PP» 421^4*2

5 2 Gunner Ollen, Strindbergs Dramatik: En Handbok (Stockholm: Radiotjflnst, 1949), p. 215.

5 3 Ibid. 5 4 Ibid., p. 216. 5 5 B r i t a Mortensen, Brian Down<s,: Strindberg: An

Introduction to His L i f e and Work (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963), p. 8TZ

5 6 August Strindberg, S k r i f t e r . V o l . XIII, BLa Bok Hi s t o r i a (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers FiJrlag, 1946), p. 435.

5 7 August Strindberg, Werke, Emil Schering trans. (Munchen: Georg Muller, 1908-1928), Abt. 8, Bd. I l l , p. 207. (Translation mine)

5 8 Strindberg, S k r i f t e r , V o l . XIII, p. 235. 5 9 Martin Lamm, p. 58. 6 0 Ibid., p. 308. 6 1 Strindberg. Werke, Abt. 8, Bd. I l l , p. 202.

(Translation mine) 6 2 Ibid., p. 204.

63 Strindberg, Alone, p. 393. 6 4 Walter H. Sokel, Ed., Anthology of German Expressionist

Drama (Garden C i t y : Anchor Books, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1963), pp. X and XIV.

^ Martin Lamm, August Strindberg. Harry G. Carlson trans. (New York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1971), p. 537.

6 6 Ibid., p. 537. 6 7 Ibid., pp. 387-388. 6 8 Ibid., p. 388. 69 Ibid.

-72-

Edmund Wilson, Axel's Castle: A Study i n the Imaginative Literature of r8"70-1930" (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 19~59"7, pp. 19-20.

7 1 v Ibid., p. 21. 7 2 Ibid., pp. 21-22. 7 3 Ibid., p. 295. 7 4 Ibid., p. 297. 75 Surrealism was not an established l i t e r a r y move­

ment when Strindberg wrote The Ghost Sonata (1907), but the methods of s u r r e a l i s t i c techniques have discernable roots reaching back to Baudelaire, see Anna Balakian, The L i t e r a r y Origins of Surrealism.

7 6 Anna Balakian, L i t e r a r y Origins of Surrealism (New York: New York University Press, 19"4~7), p. 10.

7 7 Martin Lamm, Strindbergs Dramer, Del. I I , p. 393. 7 8 i b i d . i 7Q

Emanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and Its Wonders and H e l l (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, 1972), p.'53.

8 0 Ibid., p. 56. 8 1 Ibid., p. 64. 8 2 Ibid., p. 70. 8 3 See Anna Balakian, The Symbolist Movement, pp. 12-28,

and The L i t e r a r y Origins of Surrealism, pp. 45-48. 8 4 Strindberg, S k r i f t e r , V o l . X i i i , p. 318. 8 ^ Ibid., see pp. 403-404. Here he writes about

Swedenborg's theory of correspondences where every earthly creation corresponds to the s p i r i t u a l world.

8 ^ Harriet Bosse states that: "Strindberg was so fascinated by Maeterlinck that he amused himself by t r a n s l a t i n g a chapter from Le Tresor des Humbles, dedi­cating the manuscript to me." Letters of Strindberg to Harriet Bosse. Arvid Paulson trans. CNew York: Glosset & Dunlap, 1959), p. 48.

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8 7 Strindberg, Open Letters to the Intimate Theater, p. 300.

88 August Strindberg, The Ghost Sonata, Elizabeth

Sprigge trans, i n Six Plays of Strindberg. A l l future references give only the page to t h i s e d i t i o n .

go Martin Lamm i n August Strindberg states that

Strindberg has a "compulsion for revealing the truth, as i n the bizarre and moving scene i n The Ghost Sonata i n which the Student, intoxicated by love, i s seized by an i r r e s t i b l e craving to t e l l the Young Lady everything he i s thinking about her, although he knows i t w i l l cost her l i f e . Vainly, she t r i e s to stop him: 'It's i n asylums that people say everything they think.' But he goes on, r e l e n t l e s s l y : 'I must, otherwise I ' l l d i e l 8 He„ was born with a poison that prevents him from c l o s i n g his eyes to l i f e , 'for I cannot see what i s ugly as b e a u t i f u l nor c a l l e v i l good. I cannot!*", p. 531.

9 0 J . R. Northam, "Strindberg 8s Spook Sonata", Essays on Strindberg (Stockholm: Beckmans, 1966), pp. 39-48.

9 1 Freud, p. 174. 9 2 Lagerkvist, p. 607. 9 3 Strindberg, Alone, p. 608.

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Arnold, Paul, "From the Dream i n Asechylus to the S u r r e a l i s t Theater" Journal of Aesthetics. V o l c VII, #4, June, 1949, pp. 349 -3451

Balakian, Anna, L i t e r a r y Origins of Surrealism. New York: New York University Press, 1947T

Balakian, Anna, The Symbolist Movement. New York: Random House, 1967.

Bandy, Stephen C c 9 "Strindberg's B i b l i c a l Sources f o r The Ghost Sonata" Scandinavian Studies. V o l . 40, ?T7 February, 1968, pp, 200-208.

Block, Haskell M., Mallarme and the Symbolist Drama. Det r o i t : Wayne State University Press, 1963.

Brandell, Gunnar, "Toward a New A r t Form", Genius of the Scandinavian Theater. New York: Mentor Books, 1964.

Brandell, Gunnar, Strindbergs Infernokris. Stockholm: Alb e r t Bonniers F6rlag, 1950.

Carter, Lawson, Zola and the Theater. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963.

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