THE ARCHETYPAL ACTION OF MALE SUBMISSION IN STRINDBERG'S "THE FATHER"
Author(s): Charles R. Lyons
Source: Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3 (AUGUST 1964), pp. 218-232
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Society for the Advancement of
Scandinavian Study
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THE ARCHETYPAL ACTION OF MALE SUBMISSION
IN STRINDBERG'S THE FATHER
Charles R. Lyons
PrincipiaCollege
hyiHE mimesisof The Father contains sufficientplausible detail,
numberof conventions
acceptedas "realistic,"
J[ exploitsa sufficient
and developssufficient
psychologicalexplanationsfor the behaviorof
its majorcharactersto be considereda verisimilar
imitation.However,
of the
withinits verisimilitude,
theconcentration
upon the relationship
male and the femaleis so focusedthat the play almost becomesan
abstractionof the essentialtensionbetweenthe male and the female
will. Our knowledgeof the Strindberg
biographyand our consequent
of
the
of
the
assumption
subjectivity
play wouldlead us, perhaps,into
the choice of usingJungianpsychologyin our approachto the play.
However,if our criticalobjectiveis to acknowledgetheplay's structure
as a conventional
literaryformthroughour responseto its analogiesto
basic archetypalimages,it wouldbe wiseto followthecriticalprocedure
whichis definedby NorthropFrye in Anatomyof Criticism.Frye's
criticalmethod,whichprovidesa meansand an attitudeforintegrating
thespecificliteraryeventintoan inclusive,thoughcomplex,patternof
is particularlyvaluable as the basis foran examinationof
literature,
The Father. The archetypalreadingcontrolsthe tendencyto examine
in termsof Strindberg's
ownpsychicaberrationsand
theplay primarily
demonstrates
ratherthan the uniquenessof the play.
the universality
The action of Strindberg's
play is certainlyclarifiedif the Captain's
surrender
to his wifeis read as the archetypalactionof the submission
in such mythicalsurrenof the male to the femalewhichis manifested
ders as that of Hercules to Omphale,Adam to Eve, and Samson to
Delilah.
In an attemptto accomplisha formalreadingof The Fatherattention mustbe directedto the verbaland dramaticimageryin orderto
whichis
whichit forms,a "structure
structure
apprehendthehierarchic
of the poem itself."1Northrop
the criticalanalogyto the proportions
organization
operatingin literature:
Fryefindstwoformsof metaphoric
1
NorthropFrye,Anatomyof Criticism(Princeton,1957), 85.
218
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Male Submissionin Strindberg's The Father
219
the apocalypticin whichthe categoriesof realityare expressedin the
formsof humandesire,and the demonicin whichis symbolizedthe
worldtotallyrejectedby humandesire.2Despite the déplacementfrom
mythto irony,the qualityof the verbalimageryof The Father is, of
course,demonic.In generalterms,theimmediatesociety,"held together
by a kind of moleculartension of egoes,"3 is characterizedas a
of opposingwillsis essentialand
"bedlam,"in whichtheconfrontation
toward
the
efforts
scientificachievementbecome
incessant;
Captain's
in a destrucerotic
is manifested
and
the
relationship
perverted wasted;
tive passion held by a figureassociatedwithimagesof witcheryand
savageanimals; theconceptofan externalfateis expressedin theimage
with
of theherois surrounded
of a demonicgoddess,and thesurrender
the
of
sacrifice.4
of
the
the
images
sparagmos, rendering
of
Withinthismetaphoric
complex,however,thereis a concentration
which
recurrent
imagesand an emphasisupon isolatedepisodicimages
to
reinforce
the centralimage of the emasculatedsoldiersurrendering
thedemonicfemale.5
Don'tyouseethatI am as helplessas a child,don'tyouhearthatI am complaining
thatI am a man,thatI am a soldierwho witha
as to a mother,
won'tyou forget
wordcan tamemenand beasts? I simplyimplorepitylikea sickman,I lay down
thetokensof mypowerand prayformercyon mylife.
motifs: the
This speechis an abstractionof the significant
metaphoric
the
the
tokens
of
and
demonic
emasculatedwarrior
female,who
;
power,
receivesthe worshipof man as a goddess,superiorto man and the
beasts.
2
Anatomy,139.
3
Ibid., 147.
*Ibid.,147-150.
5"Image"is usedin thisessayin thesameinclusive
sensewithwhichFryeuses
in FearfulSymmetry
term
and Anatomyof Criticism."Whentheformalcritic
the
comesto deal withsymbols. . . the unitshe isolatesare thosewhichshow an
betweenthe poem and the naturewhichit imitates.The
analogyof proportion
to associate
symbolin thisaspectmaybestbe calledtheimage.We are accustomed
theterm'nature'primarily
withtheexternal
physicalworld,and hencewe tendto
thinkof an imageas primarily
a replicaof a naturalobject. But,of course,both
wordsare farmoreinclusive:naturetakesin theconceptual
or intelligible
orderas
wellas thespatialone,and whatis usuallycalledan 'idea' maybe a poeticimage
also" (Anatomy,
84).
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220
Scandinavian Studies
The energyreleasedin thesubmissionand emasculationof the Capwas once a
tain is amplifiedby the factthatthe figurewho surrenders
of thelow
warrior,
or,at least,as close to a warrioras thedisplacement
mimeticmode allows. The imageof the cavalryofficer,to whosewill
whichis suplargenumbersof menare subject,is one of greatstrength
portedby the image of the powerfulbeasts controlledby his physical
strength.In concretevisual images, the play opens with the Captain'ssitting-room,
thewalls hungwithuniform
coats,guns,and gamethe
warrior-hero.
The
the
of
settingis bare,devoidof
bags
trappings
would
of
which
the
elaborations
comforting
compromisethe virile
any
is
of
of
the
warrior.
the
Reinforcing image the warrior-hero
austerity
and provider,who bears the
thebasic imageof the father,theprotector
burdenof responsibility
forthewholefamilyand whosewill directsthe
actionof the entirefamily.In tensionwiththe imageof the fatheras
warriorare the images whichsupportemasculation: the presenceof
the childhoodnurse; the whole householdof disorderlyfemales,with
of thewoman
theconcentration
of powerheld by thewife,thestrength
held by her assurancethat she is a creativesource; the image of the
graftedtree;thespecificimageofthesubmissivewarriorwhosurrenders
his symbolsof powerto the female; and the recurrent
imagesof the
to his mother.
childreturning
ofhusbandand wifeis describedconIn The Father,therelationship
in
of
terms
obligations,and responsibilities:
rights,
privileges,
sistently
a balanceofpowerand submission.However,heretheconceptof power
in theimageof poweroverthechild. In theverbalconis concentrated
textof The Father,poweris conceivedas the abilityto recreate;to
investthe creationwiththe personalwill and soul in orderto achieve
to recreatethechildin theimageof thecreator:
immortality;
captain. . . . Laura, save me and my reason. You don't seem to understandwhat I
say. If the childis not mine,I have no controlover it, and don't want to have any,
and that is preciselywhat you want, isn't it? You will have the power over the
child,and I shall be leftto maintainyou both.
laura. The power, yes. Has this whole life and death strugglebeen fought for
anythingbut the power?
captain. You know that I do not believe in futurelife. The child was my future
life. She was my conceptionof immortality.. . .
The presenceof the daughteraffirmsthis power to create,and this
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Male Submissionin Strindberg's The Father
221
affirmation
holdstogetherthewillof thefather.WhenLaura robshim
of the affirmation,
the imageof the child as the
his will disintegrates;
the souls of both
tokenof powerbecomesambiguousto him,reflecting
fatherand mother:
Look at me, and then I shall see my soul in your eyes!- But I see her soul, too !
You have two souls,and you love me with one of themand hate me with the other.
You mustonly have one soul, or you will never have peace, nor I either. You must
only have one thought,whichis the child of my thought; you must only have one
will,whichis mine.
In Act II, scene V, the inevitabilityof the actual submissionis
acknowledged.Laura states that one of the two must submit,"go
under,"that "the strongerwill be in the right. . . since he has the
power." At thispoint,Laura admitsthatshe has thepowerof the law
to controltheCaptainand subsequentlyto educatethe daughteras she
in the
pleases. By thepowerofthelaw,Laura meansthepowerinherent
declarationof insanitywhichwill take fromthe Captain his "civil and
familyrights."However,withinthetotaldemonicvisionof theplay,the
powerof thelaw refersto thenaturallogicby whichthe femaledevours
in thepossessionof
themale. The imageofcreativepower,concentrated
in the Captain'sscientificquest to findorganic
the child,is reinforced
lifein meteoric
stones,forthereis thesymbolicactionof theattemptto
affirm
lifein thatwhichis dead, an affirmation
of somesortof organic
and a creativeact,
And theattempt,whichis a significant
immortality.
and ultimatelyblockedby Laura. The Captain himself
is frustrated
of a creativepowerand Laura's
sees this activityas a manifestation
of it as a castration:
frustration
... I threwmyselfinto science. And now, when I was about to stretchout my
hand and gatherin its fruits,you suddenlycut offmy arm. Now I am dishonoured
and can live no longer,for a man cannot live withouthonour.
The imageof thedemonicfemaleis introducedearlyin The Father,
to thepregnancy
ofthekitchenmaidservestwofunctions:
The reference
it aids the germination
of the doubtin the Captain's mindthathe is,
possibly,not thefatherof his child; and it establishesearlyin theplay
theimageof the femaleseducingthe male intoevil. In a ratherunexwhichstrengthens
the statement,
pectedviolationof moralconvention,
the Pastor directshis sympathynot towardthe girl but towardthe
youngsoldier:
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222
Scandinavian Studies
It's a pity about the girl,certainly,but it is a pity about the lad, too. For just
thinkif he were not the father. The girlcan nurse the child for four monthsat the
orphanage,and thenit will be permanentlyprovidedfor,but the lad can do no such
thing. The girl will get a good place afterwardsin some respectablehouse, but the
lad's futuremay be ruinedif he is dismissedfromthe regiment.
The householdof women,"... a cage fullof tigers,"whowouldtear
theCaptainto piecesifhe "did notholdred-hotironsundertheirnoses,"
of womenwhichunderlinesthe iniprovidesa demoniccharacterization
tial temptress
and
establishes
the demonicnatureof the house.
image
The imageof Laura as a child,lyinglikea corpseuntilshe gotwhatshe
wanted,adds to the compositeof psychologicalexplanationswhichare
giventhe charactersin The Father. Also, and perhapsmore significantly,the image has demonicimplicationsof catatonic states and
to Laura in terms
witchery.The Captain conceivesof his relationship
of a powerfulmaster,who holds "fiendishpower,"to whomhe is a
slave:
You have been tenderenough about freeingblack slaves, but you have kept white
ones yourself. I have worked and slaved for you, your child, your mother,your
servants; I have sacrificedcareer and promotion; I have endured torture,flagellation, sleeplessness,unrest . . . until my hair has grown grey; . . .
Laura's crimeis "hellish,"and exudes "poisonous exhalation." The
Pastorsees heras a trappedfoxwhichwouldratherbiteoffits own leg
thanbe caughtin a trap; and continuing
thedemonicimages,he invokes
the imageof the blood-stainedhand fromMacbeth,and- as a clergyman- identifies
Laura's actionwithsin.
of theimageswhichconceivethe female
The focusof concentration
as theultimatedemoniccreaturecomesin thatlate speechin whichthe
illness,and
Captain definesthe femaleas the sourceof all deprivation,
death. While the abstractionof the conflictbetweenmale and female
has polarizedthe conflictinto that betweenLaura and Adolph,this
speechclarifiesthe idea thatAdolphsees himselfin conflictwiththat
and thatthe imageof the demonicfemale
whichis female,generically,
is inclusive:
My mother. . . was my enemywhen she deprivedmy embryoniclife of its nourishmentand made a weaklingof me. My sisterwas my enemywhen she taught me
that I was to be obedientto her. The firstwoman I embracedwas my enemy,for
she gave me ten years of illnessin paymentfor the love I gave her. My daughter
became my enemy when she had to choose between me and you. And you, my
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Male Submissionin Strindberg's The Father
223
wife,you have been my arch-enemy,because you have never leftme till I lay here
lifeless.
are
of thestepmother
The religionof theold nurseand thespiritualism
of the demonicimagerywhichis associatedwiththe female.
extensions
Margret'sfaithdirectsan unbenign
pessimismtowardsthemortalworld.
The Captain says:
It is a strangething that you no sooner speak of God and love than your voice
becomes hard and your eyes evil. No, Margret, you have certainlynot the true
faith.
AndMargret'sChristianvisionof themortalworld,whichshe celebrates
in songat thebeginning
of thesecondscenein Act II, "a lifewithinthis
vale of tears,"in which"Death is the triumphant
force,"is relatedto
thedemonicvisionof themortalworldas Hell whichthe Captainholds
at the conclusionof the play. The demonicevil of the stepmother's
is emphasizedin theeffectwhichit has upon thechild: the
spiritualism
thatLaura
of
subjection Berthato therevenging
spirits.It is significant
associatesherselfexplicitlyneitherwiththe Christianfaithof Margret
nor the spiritualism
of the stepmother.In the contextof The Father,
and spiritualism
are palliativedistortions
of thepure truth
Christianity
of the human conditionwhich the Captain ultimatelyreaches; and
Laura is alignedwiththe naturalfact,withpure evil itself.
The precedingdiscussionhas consideredcertainstaticaspectsof the
primaryimagepatternsin The Father,the presenceof whichinforms
thepoeticatmosphere
of theplay: theemasculatedwarrior,the tokens
of power,and the demonicfemale. However,basic to the archetypal
examinationof the poem is the consideration
of the structureof the
thegenericnarrativeor mythoswhichrelatesthe
imageryin movement,
individualpoem to the wholeof literature.6In Anatomyof Criticism,
NorthropFryeconsidersthe fourmythoiof comedy,romance,tragedy,
and ironyto be individualaspectsof a singleunifying
myth: the quest
of the hero who moves fromthe agon of romanceto the pathos of
tragedy,disappearingin the sparagmosof ironyto be rebornand form
the centerof a new societyin the anagnorisisof comedy.7The four
the structypesof movement
possiblewithinthe basic mythdetermine
6
Anatomy,140. See also p. 18.
7 Ibid., 192.
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224
Scandinavian Studies
tureof all literaryforms.8The problemof thecriticwhois examininga
themythicalmovementto whichits
is to determine
play archetypically
actionis analogicaland the qualityof the displacement
of the mythin
its particularmode.
In discussingtheobjectiveof theheroicquest,Fryesees its analogy
in dreamto be the fulfillment
of the libido in the termswhichJung
employs,and thecriticdescribestheanalogyof thisquest in ritual:
Translated into ritual terms,the quest-romanceis the victoryof fertilityover the
waste land. Fertilitymeans food and drink,bread and wine, body and blood, the
unionof male and female.9
The assimilation
ofthemaleby thefemalein The Fatheris certainlynot
a union; it is certainlynot the realizationof a quest fulfilled.On the
the Captain does not completethe quest; his inabilityto act
contrary,
marksthe withdrawalof the heroic,the submissionof the male to the
female. However,does this action,in whichthe femaleis seen as a
a
demoniccreaturewho devoursthemale,have archetypalsignificance,
mimeticconventions?
sourcein myth,and an analogyto thefundamental
In ArchetypalPatternsin Poetry,Maud Bodkin notes that the
imageof woman,conceivedas a faithful
ambiguityin the conventional
creaturewhois a fertilesourceoflifeand also as a faithlesswantonwho
is thesourceofruinto herlovers,has remainedan integralaspectof that
image. Bodkinrefersherreadersto theimageof theBabylonianIshtar,
who
"... didstlove the lion, him of completestrength,
And thenforhim . . . diggestseven and seven pits."10
Both Frye and Bodkin referto Milton's use of Eve and Delilah as
elementin thefemaleimage; Bodkindefines
examplesof thedestructive
themas "the type characterof the temptress,
betrayingman, . . .
throughher charm,and his need,and sense of onenesswithher."11
In his exhaustivestudyof WilliamBlake, the studyin whichthe
8 Anatomy,162.
"Ibid., 193.
10Maud Bodkin, Archetypal Patterns in Poetry: Psychological Studies of
Imagination(London, 1934), 173.
11Frye,Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake (Princeton,1947), 353.
Cf. Bodkin, 169.
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Male Submissionin Strindberg's The Father
225
criticalmethodof the later anatomywas initiallydefined,Frye traces
Blake's use of the mythof creation,fall, and redemption.Blake's
Albion, visualized as a single titanic figure,is an inclusivefigure,
embodying"all the humanitythat we knowin the worldof timeand
space."12Albion'sfallgeneratesthecreationof theuniverse.Thinking
the object-worldindependentof him,he falls into sleep. This relapse
of the
fromcreativeenergyto passivityis theoccasionfortheemerging
"femalewill."13 In the Albionmyth,the withdrawalof the heroicor
the disappearanceof the hero in this submissionproceeds fromhis
dependenceupon an externalobject forcreation;as a Titan,he should
be a fullyemancipatedcreator,and his use of the femalebody is a
descentfroma higherto a lowerplaneof existence.The extendedadoration of the creature,a state duringwhichthe imaginationis passive,
causes him to regardhis creationas independentof him; and he is
unable to recoverit whenit emergesas "femalewill."
In passingfroma stateof love to thestateof creationthebelovedobjectbecomes
its "female"or independent
a creatureand ceasesto be objective: it surrenders
qualityand takesits formfromthe will as well as the desireof its creator.The
whichof courseis
refusalof the belovedobjectto surrender
thisindependence,
to makeit do so, is the"femaleill,"or beliefin an ultimate
reallyman'sinability
externality.14
of Blake's use of
In the fallenworld,accordingto Frye'sdefinition
the Albionmyth,the total formof all the thingsloved and createdby
man are externalto him; in the apocalypticworld,however,thereis
union: man and emanation. Monogamous marriageis the fallen
of thisspiritualunionwhich,in Eden, is energyexisting
approximation
in a formwhichis, at once,creatorand creation.15In the fallenworld,
man beginslife in total dependenceupon the female,the mother,an
forcein naturewhichBlake calls the "female
nourishing
independent
will." But the worshipof this femaleprincipleis not creative,not
imaginative.
of the peris womb-worship,
a desireto prolongthe helplessness
Mother-worship
him.16
on thebodyof naturewhichsurrounds
ceiverand his dependence
12Symmetry,
US.
13Ibid.,126.
14Ibid., 262-263.
15Ibid., 73.
16Ibid., 75.
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Scandinavian Studies
The yieldingof theheroic,or male,will to the femalewillprovidedthe
occasionfortheintroduction
ofsin and deathin thelatermythof Adam
and Eve, and Samson'ssubmissionto Delilah standsas anotheranalogy
in myth.The demonicvisionof the femalewill findsits manifestations
in figuressuch as Eve and Delilah, culminatingin the pure demonic
visionof the GreatWhoreof the Apocalypse.This figureis the "ultimate fallenformof natureor the 'femalewill' . . .":
The whore and her beast, then,are the obstacles blockingthe view of the Unfällen
world; and when the Whore is stripped and burned all the evils of Selfhood go
fromthe Abyss,the chaos underlyingmatter,into the permanentsecond death of
non-existence.17
Frye recognizesthe analogybetweenthe Adam mythand the Samson
myth,especiallyas used by Milton:
. . . the fall of Adam in Paradise Lost is ascribed to his idolatrousadoration of Eve,
against whichhe was particularlywarned by Raphael. . . . This closelyapproximates
Blake's account of the fall of Albion and his surrenderto Vala, while "the vast
form of Nature, like a Serpent,rolTd between." The role of Delilah in Samson
Agonistesis symbolicallyidenticalwith that of Eve, and the scene in which Samson
casts her off shows more clearly what the divorce tracts mean than they do
themselves.18
In her discussionof the temptations
of Adam and Samson,Maud
Bodkin suggeststhat to Milton the femaleimage becomes"the very
projectionof the weaker,morevulnerablepart withinhimself."19It
of Adolph'spowerin The Father
couldwellbe arguedthattheattrition
is the resultof a conflictwithinhis own consciousness,the struggle
in any case, howbetweenthemalereasonand the femaleirrationality;
in
the Captain
conflict
between
the
this
conflict
is
made
external
ever,
and Laura.
NorthropFryeagreeswithMilton'sconceptionof thestoryof Adam
as the archetypalhumantragedy;and, here,we have Frye's definition
in tragedy,
of the solutionto theproblemof freewill and determinism
of
the
theanswerto thetensionin criticaltheorybetween omnipotence
an externalfateand the innocenceof the tragicsufferer:
Adam, then,is in a heroic human situation: he is on top of the wheel of fortune,
17Symmetry,140.
18Ibid., 352.
iyBodkin, 169-170.
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Male Submissionin Strindberg's The Father
227
with the destinyof the gods almost withinhis reach. He forfeitsthat destinyin a
to some and a conspiracyof fate to others.
way whichsuggestsmoral responsibility
What he does is to exchangea fortuneof unlimitedfreedomfor the fate involved in
the consequenceof the act of exchange,just as, for a man who deliberatelyjumps
off a precipice,the law of gravitationacts as fate for the brief remainderof his
Ufe.20
Frye continuesthe developmentof this idea of the tragicact as one
whichchannelsa comparatively
freelife into a causativeprocesswith
theexamplesof Macbethacceptingthelogicof usurpation,Hamlet the
logicof revenge,and Lear the logic of abdication.
femalepower
Adolph,in The Father,acceptsthelogicof omnipotent
whenhe, like Adam,acceptsthe femaleimageas an object of worship:
I naturallyenough thoughtthat I was completingmyselfwhen you and I became
one, and thereforeyou got the upper hand, and I, the commanderin barracks and
before the troops, became obedient to you, grew by you, looked up to you as a
highlygiftedbeing,listenedto you as if I had been your ignorantchild. . . . You
always had the advantage. You could hypnotizeme when I was wide awake, so
that I neithersaw nor heard, but merelyobeyed; you could give me a raw potato
and make me imagineit was a peach.
However,the productiveunion whichhe soughtwas an illusion,an
idealization;and he awoketo therealizationthatthisunionwas not the
ofhisselfbut ratherthesubmissionofhis malereasonto the
completion
femaleirrationality
ofhis wife:
. . . you could force me to admire your foolish ideas as if they were strokes of
genius; you could lead me into crime,yes, even into dishonourableactions. For you
were withoutunderstanding.
in The Father. Sleeping
Imagesofsleepand awakeningare frequent
is associatedwithinnocence,idealism,and wakingwithexperience,the
awarenessof thedemonicreality.The Captain describeshis ownrecognitionof Laura's truenatureas an awakening;and he conceivesof the
movementof mankindfrominnocenceto experiencein an interesting
allegoricalnarrativein whichthe awakeningis frominnocenceto the
of experience.
perpetualnightmare
... we and the rest of mankind lived our lives, unconscious as children,full of
imaginations,ideals, and illusions,and then we awoke; it was all over. But we
awoke with our feet on the pillow, and he who waked us was himselfa sleep20Anatomy,212.
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Scandinavian Studies
walker. When women grow old and cease to be women, they get beards on their
chins; I wonder what men get who grow old and cease to be men. Those who
crowed were no longercocks but capons, and the pulletsansweredthe call, so that
when we thoughtthe sun was about to rise we found ourselves in brightmoonlightamidst ruins,just as in the good old days. It had only been a little morning
slumberwith wild dreams,and therewas no awakening.
The awakeninghere is to a realityof emasculation,castration,impotence. This visionis of an externalfateagainstwhichit is futileto act.
If theCaptainwereable to act, theobjectiveof his actionwouldbe the
of himselfwith the creativefunctionand the creationin
integration
That thiswouldhave been the objective
orderto achieveimmortality.
in
of his quest,to speak of him in termsof the hero,is demonstrated
two ways in the play: his passionatedesireto possess the will of the
daughter,to affirmhimselfas creator; and his attemptto prove his
discoveryof organiclife in meteoricstones. At the conclusionof the
action,the imagesof sleepingand awakeningare presentagain. The
Captain,in the innocenceof his returnto the worshipof the female,
sleeps,movingtowards"what an awakeningwe do not know."
In the finalscene of The Father, the threeprimaryimages- the
- are
emasculatedsoldier,the tokensof power,and the demonicfemale
resolvedin the Captain'sdemonicvision,a visionin whichelementsof
mythexistundisplaced,but whichis plausiblein thelow mimeticmode
as thevisionof a madman. In thisscene,the Captain accomplisheshis
in his denialofhisabilityto create,to holda recreated
ownemasculation
and initially,
in
of
himself
his child and insurehis immortality;
image
he expressesthisemasculationin termswhichsuggestcastration:
What can help me now that you have taken my conception of immortality from
me, what do science and philosophy avail me when I have nothing to live for ...
I grafted my right arm, half my brain, half my marrow on to another stem, for I
thought they would grow together and knit themselves into a more perfect tree,
and then someone came with a knife and cut them asunder below the graft, and
now I am only half a tree. As for the other half, it goes on growing with my arm
and half brain, while I pine and die ... Now I will die. Do what you want with
me. I shall not be found any more.
in theactionof being
of themalestrength
thedisintegration
Completing
a helplesschild
the
to
man
the
returns
in
a
mother,
straitjacket,
trapped
made
is
This
enclosure
in
the
mother.
significant,
enclosed,symbolically,
- holds that the
forthe Captain- in his demonicvisionof the female
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Male Submissionin Strindberg's The Father
229
violentrejectionof theembryofromthenourishment
of the
and comfort
wombis the firstcrueltyof manycrueltieswhichthe femaleinflicts
uponthemale: "I believethatyou are all myenemies!" The returnto
this source of nourishment
and the recognitionthat this source is
destructive
is combinedin the cry,"Omphale! Omphale!" Not only
nourishment
comesthroughtheumbilicalcordbut also death. Here the
of Adolphto Laura is relatedto thesubmissionof Herculesto
surrender
Omphale,theLydianqueenwho forcedhimto do woman'sworkas her
slave. Hercules,of course,dressedhimselfin the skin of the Nemean
coat as the "roughlion skin"
lion; and thesymbolicuse of theuniform
define
in
submission
The
Father.
the
The insigniaof virilepower
helps
- the militaryuniform,
the armor,the club- associatedwithHercules
and the Captainare surrendered
to the female,or else devaluedby her
to the degreethattheybecomepowerless.Aftersurrendering
the symofpower,thefatherdeniespossessionof theprimary
bols,thetrappings
power,thepowerto create:
A man has no children,it is only women who have children,and thereforethe
futureis theirs,when we die childless.
This finaldenial of his own creativefunctionmarksthe ultimatesubmission.The last attemptto seize thecontrolof thedaughter,thesymbol oftheaffirmation
ofpowerto create,had beenan attemptto destroy
her. Possessedby his demonicvision,the Captainsees theworlddominatedby a god,or goddess,who is a consumingevil:
You see, I am a cannibal,and I will eat you. Your motherwanted to eat me, but
she could not. I am Saturn who ate his childrenbecause it had been prophesied
that they would eat him. To eat or be eaten! That is the question.
The desireto possessthechildmanifests
itselfin a viciousappetite,the
infantile
desireto consumethedesiredobject. However,theactionhere
is notpurelydestructive.The Captain cries:
Why didn't you let me kill the child? For life is a hell and death a heaven, and
childrenbelongto heaven.
The actionbecomes,then,an attemptto place thechildin an apocalyptic
visionin whichthefatherand thechild,thecreatorand thecreation,are
one: manand emanation.The actionfails; and, completing
the archeofthehero,theCaptainreturnsto themother'sbreast,
typalwithdrawal
a powerlesschild. The surrender
is so completethatthe Captain'sfinal
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230
Scandinavian Studies
at
speechis a prayerto themother,or ratherto Margretwho functions
this point as the symbolicmother. Repeatingthe wordsof the Hail
Mary,the expressionof the venerationof the femaleas the motherof
God, the Captain praysto the mother:
nurse. Listen,he is prayingto God.
captain. No, to you to put me to sleep, for I am tired,so tired. Good night,Margret,and blessedbe you among women.
The finalvisionof The Fatheris mademorepurelydemonicbecause
thestruggle
of thefemaleto destroythemale,or to killthehusbandand
assimilatethe son, is a struggledirectedby the unconscious;it is an
actionintegralto theconceptof theuniverseheld by theplay. Laura's
desireto providethe occasion forthe disintegration
of her husband's
of theidée fixein a mindreadyto acceptit,satiswill,theamplification
to
fiesa needwhichshe recognizesbut whichremainsincomprehensible
her. That theconflicthas been a struggleforpoweris a factwhichshe
but Strindberg
increasesthemeaningof thismimeticaction
recognizes,
between
withthesuggestion
thatthisconflictis theessentialrelationship
male and female,and that these charactersimplementthe struggle
unconsciously:
I don't know that I ever thoughtor intendedwhat you thinkI did. It may be
that an obscuredesireto get rid of you as somethingtroublesomemay have existed
in me, and if you see any plan in my conduct,it was possible that it was to be
foundthere,althoughI was unconsciousof it.
Laura, likePhaedra,is thevictimof a powerwhichmakesheract as an
ofman,and to Hippolytusand theCaptainthe
agentforthedestruction
womanappears in the guise of a witch. With the emphasisupon the
essentialconflictof the relationshipbetweenmen and women,Laura
becomesa patientto an externalfateto the same degreethat Phaedra
as to Euripides,thatexternalfateis "a Force of
is; and to Strindberg,
nature. . . workingin the world." In the same sense,Milton'sEve is
forthe
the patientof an externalpowerand becomesthe instrument
ofAdam. As it wouldbe impossibleto denythedeterminism
destruction
as
implicitin the Adam myth,it is impossibleto deny determinism
nemesisin The Father, Fryestates:
As soon as Adam falls, he entershis own created life, which is also the order of
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Male
Submission
in Strindberg's
The Father
231
nature as we know it. The tragedy of Adam, therefore,resolves, like all other
tragedies,in the manifestationof naturallaw.21
The submissionof thehero,the loss of creativeforce,is displacedinto
the surrenderof the Captain to the complexof femalewills against
whichhe is incapableof acting;and theactionof The Fatheroccursat
thatpointin theheroiccycleat whichhe is tornapart and consumed:
of realismintoimages
thesparagmosis displacedwithintheconventions
of cannibalismand thesymboliccontainment
of theheroat the conclusionoftheplay. Consequently,
accordingto ProfessorFrye'sdefinition,
The Fatherembodiesa mythosof winteras tragicirony.22Withinthe
of an apocalypse;
evil worldof thisvisionthereis no further
suggestion
thereis only releasein death,and death itselfis denied the Captain.
The triumph
of the demonicwhichincludesno promiseof immortality,
of thehero,is violently
no comforting
of thepotentialrebirth
celebration
juxtaposedagainstthecelebrationof Christmas.
withan enemyagainstwhichhe is unpreThe Captain,confronted
paredto battle,thepervadingdoubtof his own creativepower,disintegratesintomadness.
A fatal realitywould have called forthresistance,nerved life and soul to action;
but now my thoughtsdissolve into thin air, and my brain grindsa void until it is
on fire.
of the femalewillis the GreatWhore
The consummate
development
beforeman
of theApocalypse,theultimateevilwhichmustbe destroyed
world.This finalimageof thedemonic
can see thevisionof theUnfällen
femalecan onlybe destroyedby fire,and the Captain's futilegesture,
of thelightedlampat Laura, is a symbolicattemptto burn
thethrowing
the"greatwhorethatsittethuponmanywaters,"an actionwhichis not
completeduntiltheApocalypse.At thisstationof theheroiccycle,the
violentoppositionof fireand water,"whichmustend in exploding,"as
of thedemonicfemalebut
thePastornotes,resultsnotin thedestruction
in the disintegration
of the hero.
At the momentof his bindingto the chair,the Captain respondsin
21Anatomy,213.
"Anatomy, 237-239.
All quotationsfromthe play are fromthe N. Erichsentranslationin the Scribner edition,Eight Famous Plays.
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232
Scandinavian Studies
images whichidentifythe action with the archetypalactions of the
and the shearingof Samson:
chainingof Prometheus
What have you done with me ... Ah ! you infernallycunningwoman! Who would
have thoughtthat you had so much wit .... Trapped, shorn,outwitted,forbidden
to die.
cunWithSamson,theCaptainhas been emasculatedby an "infernally
ning"female,whoseactionis demonicallygenerated;withPrometheus,
who is bound to the rockbecause of his theftof fire,an actionwhich
promptedZeus to send all the ills of humanityto the mortalworld
throughthe female,Pandora, the Captain is forbiddento die. He is
offered
onlytheimmediate
palliationofsomecatatonicstatefromwhich
as the Doctor says, therewill be a returnto life, "but to what an
awakeningwe do not know." The returnto experiencemustbe, within
the givenrealityof The Father,a returnto the infernoof humanlife;
and themindof theCaptainremainsa fireburningin thevoid.
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