great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

“Miss Julie has a great deal of pride about some things–but not enough about others! Just like her mother in her lifetime; she thrived best in the kitchen or the stable”

“And it is due to my father’s training that I have learned to scorn my own sex. Between them both they have made me half man, half woman.”

These two quotes demonstrate Strindberg’s evaluation of the character of Miss Julie. Strindberg views women as being a “half-woman”, someone who trusts herself forward and sells herself for power. He always believes that women are more inferior compared to men. The first quote backs up Strindberg’s view on women by saying how Miss Julie is too stuck up in some ways and not proud enough in others, traits inherited from her mother. Jean in the quote states that women belongs in the kitchen or the stable. It shows how Strindberg belittle women. The second quote is when Jean asks if Julie has ever loved her father. He raised her to despise women, but her mom taught Julie everything boys did, making her “half woman and half man”. I think Strindberg’s term of half-woman is his way of calling women inadequate. He believes that women are incapable of being equals with men, and that when they attempt to go against them, they will not be able to handle it.