First sentence: Jean. She made him leap over her riding whip, the way you teach a dog to jump. (2)
Second sentence: Julie. Help me now. Command me—I will obey like a dog. Do me this last service save my honor. Save his name. You know what I have the will to do—but cannot do. You will it and command me to execute your will. (33)
Strindberg portrays contradicts about Miss Julie according to these two quotations. Based on the first quotation, Miss Julie seems to be a very strong woman and above of a man. Considered the background, at that time, women’s position wasn’t like today. Therefore, Miss Julie was not like every woman. However, based on the second quotation, it is just opposite of the first quotation. Miss Julie asked Jean to command because she was so indecisive and couldn’t make decision by herself. She wanted to be ordered by someone else. Interestingly, in both quotation a dog was used to explain a person who obeyed but it was the opposite; the first dog indicated a man and the second dog indicated a woman, Miss Julie. Also, a half-woman indicates Miss Julie herself. She was influenced greatly by her mother. Her mother wasn’t like every other women. She taught her daughter what usual boys need to know.
1 response so far ↓
m.camara // Mar 19th 2016 at 8:16 am
The quotes you used are perfect. They portray the perfect contract in Miss Julie’s character. She on one hand is a strong woman just as her mother raised her. However on the other hand she is incapable of making her own decisions because she is caught between her mother emotions and father thoughts. These two quotes show how Miss Julie in the beginning of the play is portrayed as a powerful woman but towards the end we see that she has no power over herself or her life. And that is why she needs to be commanded by jean, because ultimately she does not have the power to do it herself.
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