SOURCE: Wirmark, Margareta. “Strindberg's History Plays: Some Reflections.” In Strindberg and Genre, edited by Michael Robinson, pp. 200-06. Norvik Press, 1991.

In the following essay, Wirmark discusses Strindberg's history plays.

At the turn of the year 1898-9 Strindberg entered upon an intense period of dramatic writing. ‘Jag har nu lagt undan allt annat och ägnar mig uteslutande åt teaterförfatteri’ (I have now put everything else aside and am devoting myself entirely to writing for the theatre—XIII, p. 59) he wrote, in a letter dated 26 December 1898. In January 1899 he was to celebrate his fiftieth birthday, which may have been one of the reasons for this new start. In the letter Strindberg refers to his youthful masterpiece Måster Olof, which was to be revived for the occasion.¹ The time has come to present Sweden with a dramatic art worthy of the name, Strindberg proclaims, and his intention is to...