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The Father 47
If she marries she can use her knowledge in the educa
tion of her children.
While the father s love is concerned with the
development of the child, that of the mother is
interested mainly in the possession of the child.
Therefore she fights the man with every means
at her command, even to the point of instilling the
poison of doubt into his mind, by hints that he is
not the father of the child. Not only does she
seek to drive her husband mad, but through skillful
intrigue she leads every one, including the Doc
tor, to believe that he is actually insane. Finally
even the old nurse is induced to betray him: she
slips the straitjacket over him, adding the last
touch to the treachery. Robbed of his faith,
broken in spirit and subdued, the Captain dies a
victim of the Earth Spirit of motherhood,
which slays the man for the sake of the child.
Laura herself will have it so when she tells her
husband,
u
You have fulfilled your function as
an unfortunately necessary father and breadwin
ner. You are not needed any longer, and you
must go."
Critics have pronounced "The Father" an
aberration of Strindberg s mind, utterly false and
distorted. But that is because they hate to face
the truth. In Strindberg, however, the truth is
his most revolutionary significance.
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