Facing Death (Play) August Strindberg (NEB XII)
AuthorAugust Strindberg's Bio.
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter who lived from 22 January 1849 to 14 May 1912. Strindberg was a prolific author who frequently drew on his own experience. Over the course of his four-decade career, he produced more than sixty plays as well as more than thirty books of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics. He explored a wide spectrum of dramatic techniques and goals, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and historical plays to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic tactics. He was a fearless experimenter and iconoclast throughout his life. The Red Room (1879), written by him, has frequently been referred to be the first modern Swedish novel. He is regarded as the "father" of contemporary Swedish writing. Strindberg is revered in Sweden as a poet, writer, however, he is primarily recognized as a playwright in other nations.
Setting
The open door displays a room with a long dining table, over the tops of the cypress trees in the churchyard, Lake Leman, the Savoy Alps, and the French resort of Evian to unlock a door and enter a room; the kitchen entrance is on the left.
Themes
of the Play
Toxic relationship
Confidentiality
Tragedy and sorrow
Hardship
Confession
Consciousness
Lack of gratitude
Characters
� Mr.
Durand, a businessman who was previously associated with the state railways
� Adele,
his twenty-seven-year-old daughter
� Annette,
his twenty-four-year-old daughter
� Therese,
his twenty-four –year old daughter
� Antonio, a lieutenant in an Italian cavalry regiment in French Switzerland in the 1980s.
� Pierre:
an errand boy.
Elements
of Plot
The plot is the sequence in which events occur. Facing Death, a one-act play by August Strindberg tells the story of Monsieur Durand, a former railroad worker and widower in financial ruin. Durand has three daughters, Adèle, Annette, and Thérèse, who have no future prospects. Despite his efforts to provide for his children, including renting out his home to lodgers, he has been met with scorn and derision. Monsieur Durand, on the other hand, has the plan to secure his daughters' financial futures, even if it means facing his own death. A prime example of dramatic naturalism in Europe. The story of Facing Death is about a father's love for his children, even if it means sacrificing everything.
Exposition - Durand and his family go through a financial crisis after the demise of his wife and face trouble running their
business.
Rising Action - Durand and his daughters get into a
quarrel as his daughters blame him for their unfortunate and tragic
circumstances.
Climax - Durand decides to suicide so that he would
get his life insurance money back along with the fire insurance for the
financial sake of his daughters.
Falling Action - After his decision, Durand tells his
oldest daughter Adele to convey his messages to everyone and take good care of
the family.
Resolution - Durand drinks the poison, faints and
dies of fire.
Facing Death, a one-act play by August Strindberg tells the story of Monsieur Durand, a former railroad worker and widower in financial ruin. Durand has three daughters, Adèle, Annette, and Therese, who have no prospects. Despite his efforts to provide for his children, including renting out his home to lodgers, he has been met with scorn and derision. Monsieur Durand, on the other hand, has a plan to secure his daughters' financial futures, even if it means facing his death. A prime example of dramatic naturalism is in Europe. The story of Facing Death is about a father's love for his children, even if it means sacrificing everything. In this play, the author attempts to convey the abundant source of love and care that a father has for his daughter, regardless of the state of their family or the financial situation in which they find themselves. The sacrifice that a father made for these three young children who hated and slandered their father for their mother's death and refused to accept his love and care until the very end. Monsieur Durand was a retired railroad worker who lived with his three daughters. They had a difficult time making a living after his wife died and he retired. They struggled to make ends meet. They made money by renting rooms to tourists, but because the number of tourists was low, they eventually went out of business.
However, he was in financial ruin, and he always put his beloved daughters first. He'd go out of his way to buy candles and cream for his daughters' cats to make them happy and keep them hungry for days. Durand had a fight with one of his guests, Antonio, who was attempting to assist them in their financial crisis but had to leave due to the fight. His daughters then accused him of driving away the few tourists who visited their home and of misusing some of the money they had amassed. He then goes on to say that if he were them, they would feel better. Durand's daughters began to agree with him because he had previously acted similarly.
This prompted him to decide to die by fire so that his daughters could receive the fire insurance he had kept. He informed his eldest daughter Adele regarding his judgment and that he would go days without bread and milk, only water to satisfy his hunger for the sake of his daughters, but his daughters never thought of the sacrifices that their father made for their lives and always complained about their hardship and tragedy. He told her to pass on his wishes for a happy life to his younger daughters Annette and Therese. Finally, he acts on his decision by starting a fire and having a drink of toxin. The father sacrificed himself for his daughter's money and pleasure, and we learn at the very end that he did it in order to save his daughters' lives and relieve them of some of the load.