FATHER, The, a tragedy in three acts by Strindberg. Translated by N. Erichson. Soon after the Swedish original had been completed during a stay in Bavaria in 1::7, a French edi tion was published with a preface by Emile Zola, who praises the drama very much, but finds fault "with too much in places, while a stricter realism would be more pleasing. In the preface to 'Froken Julie,' the author replies to critics who had resented the gloom of 'The Father' : "Some people have accused my tragedy of being too sad, as though one devised a merry tragedy. I find joy of life in the powerful, terrible struggles of life; and the capability of experiencing some thing, of learning something, is a pleasure to me." 'The Father' belongs to the "realistiO period in the complex development of the Swe dish genius. When, after years of adverse criticism, this great tragedy was produced in his native country, it proved to be one of the strongest plays of the Swedish stage. Of his dramatic works, it is the most magnificent in composition, most powerful in its effect, most impressive in its condensed energy. All that the author has written before or after about married life, when it is a curse, may be regarded as only sketches or outlines in com parison with 'The Father.' With a power
unsurpassed in its intensity, he has drawn a picture, so vivid and so pitiless, of the duel be tween the sexes, between husband and wife, for mastery. The captain and his wife become types. The woman, described as very com mon, rather stupid, and insane in her &sire to rule and have her way, obtains control and utterly destroys her gifted, good-natured hus band. Love is the man's misfortune and the false woman's lure. Even a mother's love is under suspicion and dangerous to the child, because it is so blindly selfish. Hatred and the thrill of agony rise beyond all limits. The wild symbolism at the close, with the husband in a straight-jacket, is harrowing. The depth of hatred and indignation makes one stand aghast. The shriek of agony shows the deep wounds of suffering which caused it. The Comrades' (1888), a sort of sequel to 'The Father,' is pale in comparison.