The Stronger – August Strindberg

Characters:

MME X = an actress, married (MME= Madame)

MLLE Y = an actress, unmarried (MLLE= Mademoiselle = Unmarried woman)

Bob = MME X husband who never appear in the play

Setting

This play takes place in the corner of a ladies’ café between two woman on Christmas eve

About Writer

Main Idea of the stronger 

The stronger by August Strindberg summary :

‘The stronger’ is a play in one act by August Strindberg. In this play, Strindberg introduces two characters Mrs. X and Miss Y (Amelia) with conflicting ideologies and attitudes. The play begins when Mrs. X and miss y in a corner of a women’s café on a Christmas eve. Miss Y sits with half empty beer bottle in front of her, reading a paper. Miss Y who is also the ex girlfriend of Mrs. X. Mrs. X starts greeting and talking to miss Y criticizing her loneliness because she was sitting alone in café on the occasion of Christmas eve. She monopolies the conversation as she repeatedly interrupts Miss Y before the latter (Miss Y) can utter a single word. She expresses her surprise to see her as a poor bachelor sitting there alone at the Christmas Eve. Miss Y (or Amelia) barely responds to the reactions of Mrs. X. It looks like a dramatic monologue. Mrs. X has financial security, a home and a family while miss Y is alone who sits on a café reading newspaper and drinking beer. However, the main problem of Mrs. x is that her husband has had an affair with Miss Y in the past. 

Mrs. X takes out a doll and a small toy gun from her bag she had bought as Christmas present for her daughter and son. She shows how nice they are. She loads the gun and points at Miss Y. She says that she would not mind if if Miss Y shot at her because she came between Bob and her. But all that is over now. And she also takes out a pair of slippers for her husband Bob, with embroidered tulip which he likes. Mrs. X says how nice it looks for Bob in slippers. Miss Y just laughs. Mrs. X says that her husband is so nice and so good little man to her that he is always true and faithful to her. She says there were so many crazy women to him but he did not care them. He always remained faithful to her. Perhaps she was also after him but did not care, she says.

When Mrs. X meets miss Y for the first time, she felt that she is weaker than miss Y, but later she becomes satisfied for having a family. she realizes that she had to wear her (miss Y’s) color, adopt all the habits of miss Y, ate miss Y's favorite dishes and her drinks, read her authors. She has to follow all his interest making tulip flower embroidered on his slippers which Miss Y was fond of, putting their baby's name 'Eskil' which her father's name was and all her family interest are guided by Miss Y's interest. It's terrible for her to follow her interest to make her husband happy. Mrs. X perceives how she got advantage on everything miss y taught her, in fact, what Mrs. X learned from miss y was how to regain husband.

But at last, Mrs. X tries to console herself saying that she is stronger and Miss Y is weaker. She says that it is no problem for her what she has to do at home to make her husband happy. She says that Miss Y has lost a man, a man's love, no home, no children, and living alone. She says that she can learn from others, learn how to love. But Miss Y is not ready to bend to anybody, and so she broke like a dry stalk. In spite of these all the end of the play shows that miss Y is stronger throughout the entire play. She shows the incredible patient; she is an independent woman. Despite of all the talking from Mrs. X Miss Y remained silent which showed she is more stronger than her. Mrs. X needs to declare her superiority which ultimately makes her inferior.