What Roles Do Gender and Class Play in August Strindberg's "Miss Julie"?
- Gender and class provide the entire basis of the work's all-encompassing power struggle. Miss Julie's status as being upper class gives her power over Jean, a lower class individual. However, because of his being a male, he has control over the female Miss Julie.
- The entire naturalist themes of the play are centered on a narrative of "do not attempt to leave the roles set out for you". In Jean's case, this is displayed in his desire to leave his class (his efforts to do so fail). In the case of Miss Julie, not only is it her desire to fall to lower class but her out-of-gender-normality-behavior.
- Arguably Miss Julie's characterization hinges on her being a female. Strindberg sought to embody the "degenerate woman". He did so by making the titular character flirtatious, hysterical, independent, and literally raised as a boy (58-59)
- Strindberg wanted the play to be a call to stay within tradition, perhaps due to witnessing the wake of Socialist/Communist revolts and the beginning of the ideas of equality for women, or at least that is how it seems to be. Judging by this, his decision to craft characters that are both unlikable and desperate for a change of class and gender roles makes the work a near parable.
- Miss Julie's background is written so that she is a mongrel of both class and gender due to both bloodline and upbringing. Furthering naturalist themes, it can be argued that this "tainted" upbringing and coupling that birthed her are what destined her character to fail within the realm of Strindberg's work.
- Role of Sex/sexuality regarding specific genders and classes, and why the aftermath differs
- Overall misogyny in the work and its contribution to the "message"
- Juxtaposition of Julie and Kirstin
- Characters are written so the audience dislikes Jean because of his actions. Julie is disliked because of being "unladylike"
- Class Metaphors