Miss Julie - questions
August Strindberg's play Miss Julie deals with a love affair between the protagonists, Miss Julie and Jean, her father's valet, as they are unable to be together as a result of belonging to different social classes. It appears that Miss Julie is open minded and does not hesitate to dance with her servants when she gets the chance to do so. However, as the play progresses and she puts across the tendency to discriminate based on social class it is revealed that she is not necessarily interested in having her servants fell good, as she is actually more concerned about her personal well-being and does not hesitate to emphasize her status when having the feeling that someone might taunt her. The girl eventually demonstrates that it would be impossible for her to adapt to a lifestyle away from her father's influence and ends up committing suicide as she realizes that there is no solution left for her. As a consequence, audiences are likely to ask the question: Is Miss Julie actually as open-minded as she appears to be or is she just interested in using her servants as a means to entertain herself?
From the very first moments when the two meet, audiences are likely to observe that there is a lot of tension between Miss Julie and Jean. While they initially appear to be motivated by their pride, they gradually appear to lower their guards and put across their feelings toward each-other. This happens as none of them is able to defeat the other as Miss Julie is fueled by her social status and Jean is fueled by the fact that he is unconstrained by concepts like rank.
Are Miss Julie and Jean truly in love with each-other or are they only interested in the sexual part of the matter as they attempt to seduce each-other?
Miss Julie constantly puts across the feeling that she feels threatened by individuals that she interacts with and that it is thus necessary for her to adopt a defensive attitude in an attempt to put across the fact that she is superior. Even with this, she willingly alienates herself from the aristocracy in order to spend most of her time with her servants. This influences servants to be hesitant about connecting with her as they realize that the repercussions can be particularly disturbing. Jean is the only one who appears to understand her and to connect to her to a higher level.
Is Jean solely interested in demonstrating that he is superior and thus feels that he needs to trick Miss Julie as he becomes actively involved in ruining her life?
You’re 83% through this paper. Sign up to read the full paper.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.