Cunningham 1

Thomas Cunningham

THRT 386 002

McAllister

12th February, 2021

Miss Julie: a Desire to Fall

In her “‘Miss Julie’ as ‘A Naturalistic Tragedy’”, Alice Templeton examines the nature

of the “tragedy” in August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. She argues that the true tragedy stems from

the fact that Julie masochistically pursues her own downfall by going against the rules she knows

society functions under, stating:

“... in large part her tragedy is that she is not a naturalist: in the first half of the

play she does not or cannot give in to a deterministic world- view, and she will

not accept her "natural" destiny as woman and as aristocrat. As a result, she

appears to pursue her own destruction” (471).

This quote describes what— in my opinion— is an interesting trait present within the character

of Miss Julie: her incredibly strong desire to cause herself to fall from her station. Support for

this stance can be seen early on, when Julie asks Jean to dance. Here, she states “... I want to

dance with one who knows how to lead, so that I am not made ridiculous” (Strindberg, 724).

While this can be read as strictly applying to dancing, I believe on a larger scale, the quote shows

her willingness to give up her power and fall from grace; she wants Jean to take control so that

she does not embarrass herself. Further support for this desire to fall can be seen later on in the

play, when Julie recounts to Jean a dream she experiences, saying,

“ I'm sitting on top of a pillar that I've climbed up somehow and I don't know how

to get back down. When I look down I get dizzy. I have to get down but I don't

have the courage to jump. I can’t hold on firmly, and I long to be able to fall, but I
 Cunningham 2

don’t fall. And yet I’ll have no peace unless I get down… And if I did get down to

the ground, I’d want to be under the earth...” (Strindberg, 726).

This dream beautifully expresses Julie’s own desire for her “fall” ; she knows she

shouldn’t, but she believes she cannot find peace without stripping herself of her position.

In fact, she doesn’t just want to fall, she wants to plummet so low that she is entombed

within the earth. Only then does she feel she can be free, and she is willing to do anything

for that freedom.

Work Cited

1. Templeton, Alice. “‘Miss Julie’ as ‘A Naturalistic Tragedy.’” Theatre Journal,

vol. 42, no. 4, 1990, pp. 468–480. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3207723.

Accessed 11 Feb. 2021.

2. Strindberg, August. Miss Julie. Translated by Harry G. Carlson. The Bedford

Introduction to Drama Seventh Edition, edited by Lee A. Jacobus, Bedford Press, 2013,

pp. 723-38