Miss Julie (Paperback)

by David French (Adapter), August Strindberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Full-length drama in one act by August Strindberg, published in Swedish as Froken Julie in 1888 and performed in 1889. Also translated into English as Countess Julie and Lady Julie, the play substitutes such interludes as a peasant dance and a pantomime for the conventional divisions of acts, scenes, and intermissions. Julie, an aristocratic young woman, has a brief affair with Jean, her father's valet. After the sexual thrill has dissipated, they realize that they have little or nothing in common. Strindberg portrays Julie as a decaying aristocrat whose era has passed and Jean as an opportunistic social climber to whom the future beckons. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
As all the great dramatists since the Greek tragedians have known, class and gender roles continue to remain the two fundamental determinants of the social fabric of any culture - even one, like our own, in which the boundaries of those identities have become fluid, situational, and transitory. David French's adaptation of August Strindberg's disturbing and enduring drama of the transgressive affair between the daughter of a count and the count's manservant has an eerie feel of the contemporary about it. His re-visioning of "Miss Julie" foregrounds the ruptures of identity and faith that ambition and desire eternally work in their rending of social norms, strictures, and conventions.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Talonbooks (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889225494
• ISBN-13: 978-0889225497
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,866,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miss Julie, January 10, 2000

By	Andrew D. Eisenstein (Santa Cruz, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Julie (Paperback)

Definitely one of the better plays I have read in my survey of late 19th century European drama. While there are slight flaws in it, such as frequent mood swings by the characters, the overall writing is fabulous. Jean is a perfectly portrayed Machiavelli, doing what is necessary for him to succeed at whatever costs. Julie, on the other hand, wavers between the strong and self-confident seductress of the beginning, to the weak and manipulated wronged woman at the end. Definitely a cornerstone in the history of modern drama.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars comment to a previous reviewer, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Miss Julie (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

A previous reviewer ([e-mail]) commented that Miss Julie is a true story about Strindberg, his 16 yr. old lover and his wife Harriet. This is not entirely correct. It is based on one of his marriages - to his first wife Siri von Essen. He married Siri in 1877. Miss Julie was written in 1888 and was first put on stage in 1889 with Siri acting out the role of Julie. He divorced Siri in 1891 and did not meet Harriet (who was actually his third wife) until 1900. They married in 1901. Strindberg identifies with Jean in the play. Strindberg felt inferior to Siri (a Baroness). Jean was also inferior to Julie but he triumphed over her in the end.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mistress and servant, October 3, 2002

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Miss Julie (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

"Miss Julie," by August Strindberg, is a play with three speaking parts: Miss Julie, a nobleman's daughter; Jean, a young valet; and Christine, a cook in the household. The Dover Thrift Edition version is translated by Edwin Bjorkman. A brief introductory note states that the play first appeared as a printed text in 1888, a year before its first staging.

The play's title character is bold and flirtatious; her behavior, unsurprisingly, leads to controversy. "Miss Julie" is a fascinating glimpse at a society that is rigidly ordered around class stratification, gender roles, and sexual conduct; the play looks at the consequences when people resist this rigid order. The play has some really startling, thought-provoking dialogue.

Recommended companion texts: "Hands Around," by Arthur Schnitzler; "Daisy Miler," by Henry James; and "Cuckoos," by Giuseppe Manfridi. Each of these three literary works shares at least one significant theme or motif in common with "Miss Julie."