Miss Julie

Key Facts

full title ·  Miss Julie

author · August Strindberg

type of work · Drama

genre · Naturalistic tragedy

language · Swedish

time and place written · France, late 1880s

date of first publication · 1888; initially banned in Sweden; published in Copenhagen in 1889

publisher · Seligmanns forlag (Stockholm)

narrator · None

climax · Julie and Jean have sex

protagonists · Julie, Jean

antagonist · Julie, Jean

setting (time) · Midsummer Eve, 1880s

setting (place) · Sweden, the Count's manor house

falling action · The unmasking of Jean and fall of Julie

tense · Present

foreshadowing · Miss Julie is described as white as a "ghost," yearns for death, and hypnotically surrenders to Jean; Serena is decapitated; Jean sharpens his razor

tone · Tragic

themes · The degenerate woman; class and gender conflict

motifs · Idealization and degradation; hypnotism; animal doubles; the pantomime and ballet

symbols · The signs of the Count's authority: the ringing bell, the boots, Jean's livery, the speaking tube