Examining Greater Naturalism, Gender-Balance and Some Other Ideas in Strindberg’s Short Stories

Abstract

The paper reviews some short stories by August Strindberg in order to reinterpret gender issues. Mainly two of his short stories- ‘His Servant or Debit and Credit’ (1884) and ‘Compulsory Marriage’ (1884) - have been focused intensely. Besides, necessary references have been taken from some other short stories. Strindberg’s thoughts have been checked from some unconventional points of view. Since ‘Gender’, ‘Sex’, ‘Gender-Balance’, ‘Greater naturalism’ etc. played important roles in Strindberg's works, these terms have been explained separately. The paper casts a glance at Henrik Ibsen as well; because discussion on Strindberg remains incomplete without Ibsen. Adding multi-layered arguments, the paper tries to remove conventional misinterpretations of August Strindberg’s thoughts. It examines Strindberg’s attitude towards feminism, and takes references from relevant works by other writers. It suggests solution to the problems that arise from so-called ‘Gender disparity’. Above all, the paper comes to a conclusion that becomes parallel to August Strindberg's thoughts on gender issues.