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Countess Julie 57
Kristin. I don t want to be here in this house any
longer where one cannot respect one s betters.
Jean. Why should one respect them?
Kristin. Yes, you can say that, you are so smart.
But I don t want to serve people who behave so. It re
flects on oneself, I think.
Jean. Yes, but it s a comfort that they re not a bit
better than we.
Kristin. No, I don t think so, for if they are not bet
ter there s no use in our trying to better ourselves in this
world. And to think of the Count ! Think of him who
has had so much sorrow all his days. No, I don t want
to stay in this house any longer! And to think of it being
with such as you! If it had been the Lieutenant
... I have never lowered my position. Let any one
say, if they can, that the Count s cook has had anything
to do with the riding master or the swineherd. Let them
come and say it!
Such dignity and morality are indeed pathetic,
because they indicate how completely serfdom
may annihilate even the longing for something
higher and better in the breast of a human being.
The Kristins represent the greatest obstacle to
social growth, the deadlock in the conflict between
the classes. On the other hand, the Jeans, with
all their longing for higher possibilities, often
become brutalized in the hard school of life;
though in the conflict with Julie, Jean shows bru
tality only at the critical moment, when it be-
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