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Countess Julie 53
of his mother. He who had been begotten
through the physical mastery of his father and
the physical subserviency of his mother. Verily,
Strindberg knew whereof he spoke for he
spoke with his soul, a language whose significance
is illuminating, compelling.
Countess Julie inherited the primitive, in
tense passion of her mother and the neurotic aris
tocratic tendencies of her father. Added to this
heritage is the call of the wild, the
"
intense sum
mer heat when the blood turns to fire, and when
all are in a holiday spirit, full of gladness, and
rank is flung aside." Countess Julie feels, when
too late, that the barrier of rank reared through
the ages, by wealth and power, is not flung aside
with impunity. Therein the vicious brutality, the
boundless injustice of rank.
The people on the estate of Julie s father are
celebrating St. John s Eve with dance, song and
revelry. The Count is absent, and Julie gra
ciously mingles with the servants. But once hav
ing tasted the simple abandon of the people, once
having thrown off the artifice and superficiality of
her aristocratic decorum, her suppressed passions
leap into full flame, and Julie throws herself into
the arms of her father s valet, Jean not be
cause of love for the man, nor yet openly and
freely, but as persons of her station may do when
carried away by the moment.
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