Strindberg's The Father

This study will discuss the themes of August Strindberg's play The Father from a philosophical point of view, focusing on the significance and meaning of those themes for both the original audience and today's audience. The narrow theme of the play is the doubt that men may have about their own role in the origins of their children--i.e., can a man ever be certain that he is the biological father of his child or children? In broader terms, however, the theme is the war which exists between the sexes, especially in a marriage and particularly in a marriage with children.

The theme of marital discord is certainly not a new one, although Strindberg makes it utterly fresh in this play with his unique characterization of the marital couple, the Captain and Laura.

The Captain seems to be alternately a fool (in not seeing what a monster Laura is long before the marriage has reached the late stage as it is portrayed in the play) and a knowing and willing partner in his own destruction. In fact, Captain Adolf does seem to be at least partially as mentally unstable as Laura tries to depict him to other characters. He is hardly the "Captain" of his soul or destiny but instead is a helpless victim in the marriage.

Laura, on the other hand, behaves like a black widow spider, devouring her mate after he has served the purpose of giving her offspring. She seems stupid at times (as when the doctor is explaining the repercussions of her plan to her), but her primary trait is her bull-li

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s unlikely that the playwright would condone what Laura does to her husband, undermining his career and ultimately causing his death. Whatever ambiguities might be suggested by the playwright with respect to the Captain's role in the marriage, there is no ambiguity whatsoever in Laura's role. She is a cold-blooded devourer of her husband, which certainly must have disturbed audiences in Strindberg's own time. It was the era of Victorian standards, not a time in which women and wives behaved as if they lived according to the rules of the jungle. Instead, it was expected that the wife had the inferior role in the marriage and would bow to the demands of the husband. Clearly, these roles are radically reversed in the marriage of the Captain and Laura. Audiences in Strindberg's time might have been scandalized by the ruthlessness of Laura and even by the self-destructiveness of the Captain, but it is less likely that any audience today would be so scandalized, although this marriage will always be disturbing because of its blatant unhealthiness. Today's audiences have simply been exposed to too many bizarre marriages and too much unhealthy human behavior to be shocked by Strindberg's play. The only shock today might be that these

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