By Kieran Gleason

            The 19^th century was a whirlwind of change socially, economically, and religiously. August Strindberg lived in a time in which the plate tectonics of life were shifting, creating earthquakes and chasms in its wake. It would have been impossible for anyone to escape unscathed. All social and artistic movements are brought on by our reactions to other movements. The industrial revolution was spurred on by the Enlightenment period. Romanticism was a response to the world Industrialism created. Gothic literature finds it roots in dissatisfaction with romanticism, and Naturalism with interest in it. And from Naturalism, Expressionism and Symbolism were birthed. From there, we spiral on into modern, postmodern, and to other contemporary movements. All of this happened in a short burst of time, relatively speaking. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on Industrialism, Naturalism, Expressionism, and August Strindberg’s navigation of these movements.

From artistic movements to industry and the church, life in Strindberg’s Sweden was permanently altered by rising industry and the constant rush of social and artistic change that swept the continent. The Industrial Revolution created a new and foreign social habitat. From it, we saw a shift away from rural life and the expansion of cities. Economies all over Europe began to flourish with industry, with the exception of Sweden. By the time the first rush of industrialization had swept through the greater majority of Europe, Sweden was only beginning to sink its teeth into industry. In comparison to the rest of modern mainland Europe, Sweden would have seemed archaic in this respect, though it would soon catch up. Strindberg would have grown up alongside this shifting atmosphere. By the time he would reach adulthood, his father would own the largest shipping company in Sweden, though he did not benefit much from his father’s success. 

            Pre-industrial and Early Industrial Sweden was deeply religious, much the rest of the western sphere at the time. Soon after the industrial boom in which traditional religious beliefs came into contact with a rapidly increasing knowledge of science that came with industrialization.  Here, a rift was created, one that many artists, scientists, and pious people would try to fill. Strindberg began his early life as a religious man in some respect. He was a Christian, and for a brief period of his life he was an incredibly devoted one, though he would soon discover science as a medium through which to view the world. Much like the world around him, there came a time in Strindberg’s life where his focus shifted from religious practice to the scientific method.

            Among many other things, Strindberg considered himself a scientist. He delighted in the scientific method. He studied to become a doctor, though he had little interest in treating patients, finding these parts of his studies to be distasteful at best. He preferred experiments and took pleasure in investigating chemical reactions and alchemy, going as far as to mic a vial of prussic acid to carry around in his coat pocket. Its only natural that his interest in observation led him down the path to naturalism in his writing once he shifted his focus from science to the theatre.

            Naturalism, a movement attributed primarily to Émile Zola in most accounts, is an artistic movement founded in the belief that the author must act as a mere observer and recorder of his characters and their reactions, much like a scientist would behave while recording an experiment. The crux of this movement was defined by objectivity and neutrality in the observation of real-life events. It aimed to create a real interpretation of the world. Oftentimes live animals would be brought on stage for the purpose of authenticity. This extreme interpretation of realism on stage was adopted by many playwrights of the time. Strindberg’s plays The Father and Miss Julie, which was later dubbed his successful naturalistic tragedy, were the crux of his involvement with the Naturalist movement and are attributed to be key plays within the movement by some, despite the fact that The Father was not considered to be a Naturalist piece by either Strindberg or Zola. Regardless, Strindberg’s prevalence as a naturalistic playwright is undeniable.

Later, Strindberg would move away from the realism of the Naturalism movement into the symbolic aspects of Expressionism. Attributed to Nietzsche by some, Expressionism attempts to paint the world through the view of a single viewpoint and through emotional experience rather than physical reality. Where Naturalism is a movement away from religion and towards scientific thought, expressionism is an embracing of the spiritual in a much more symbolic way. The Ghost Sonata is a nominative example of this. The play does not exist in a traditional physical plane of reality, rather in a realm of the afterlife before the isle of the dead. We see the emotional turmoil and strife of many of these characters firsthand in a way that is wholly different from how we would see them in our world. 

Strindberg’s journey through Naturalism and Expressionism embodied the transitionary period that he lived in, one created by the shifting relationships of science and religion left in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Through his plays, we can see the major influences these shifting tides had on his writing, his life, and the world around him. We still live in the wakes of these changes, creating contemporary responses through our own reactions to these movements and others. The tide continues to shift, and artists continue to respond in kind.