August Strindberg

(Stockholm, 1849-1912) A prolific Swedish author and playwright, considered by O'Neill as the father of modern theater. Strindberg's difficult childhood, passionate nature, unstable and angry individualism, occasional violent misogyny, and constant quest for the absolute characterize both him and the characters in his works, which are more or less autobiographical ("The Son of a Servant"). His thought, influenced by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Rousseau, and Fourier, leads him beyond romanticism to atheism and mysticism. A keen interpreter of human behavior and the mysteries of the subconscious, he moves with remarkable ease from the harshest naturalism to the most ethereal symbolism. He denounces the triumph of violence in interpersonal relationships and the inability of one person to communicate with another, as well as with many, having himself reached the brink of madness after the painful failures of his three marriages. The number three also marks his work, which is divided into three periods. The naturalistic period is marked by influences from Valles and Zola and includes works such as "The Red Room" (a novel that caused a social scandal), the three plays "The Father" (possibly a naturalistic variation of the classic myth of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra), "Miss Julie," and "The Creditors," the Swedish historical tragedies "Sir Olof," "Gustav Vasa," and "Gustavus Adolphus," and finally, the drama "The Dance of Death." This is followed by the period of mysticism, a serene mysticism inspired by the theosophist Swedenborg ("A Dream Play"). The third period is illuminated by a clear humanistic light thanks to the Intima Teatern (1907), a small theater that Strindberg himself created and directed to present works such as "The Storm," "The Pelican," and "The Ghost Sonata," chamber plays imbued with harshness and despair.