Pariah (play)
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''Pariah'' () is a
one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...
written by
August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...
.


Origins

Strindberg wrote ''Pariah'' along with his play ''
Creditors A creditor or lender is a Party (law), party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided ...
'' in the town of Holte, Denmark during the winter of 1888–1889. He was in Denmark to create a theatre of his own, following the example he admired of the
Théâtre Libre The Théâtre Libre (; "Free Theatre") was a theatre company that operated from 1887 to 1896 in Paris, France. Origins and History Théâtre Libre was founded on 30 March 1887 by André Antoine (actor), André Antoine. The primary goal of the ...
in Paris, which had been founded two years earlier. Strindberg’s theatre would present naturalistic plays, and the artistic director would be his wife, Siri von Essen. It was to be called “The Scandinavian Experimental Theatre”, and then was renamed “Strindberg’s Experimental Theatre”. Beset with disasters, not the least of which was the
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
of his play, '' Miss Julie'', the theatre had a tumultuous and extremely brief history. The theatre premiered in Holte on March 9, 1889 with a triple bill: ''Pariah'', ''Creditors'', and ''The Stronger''. The evening was a success, with applause and curtain calls. Even harsh critics were won over, with the exception of a newspaper reviewer who demanded that Strindberg be deported. The performance was then repeated in the nearby Swedish town,
Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
. In the audience at Malmö was Ola Hansson, who had just published a short story from which, Strindberg claimed in a program note, the title and theme of ''Pariah'' were taken. However, Hansson said he didn’t recognize anything of his original theme. Hansson also reports that at this time he had lent Strindberg a book of mysteries by
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
, and that Poe was a significant influence on Strindberg’s writing at this time. A possible example of that influence, is that a scene of psychological detective work occurs in Poe’s short story, " The Gold Bug", that appears to have inspired an episode in ''Pariah''. Strindberg's original title for the play is “''Paria''”, with its Hindu etymology. Some English translations use the title, “The Outcast”, which, however, can be confused with an earlier play by Strindberg, “The Outlaw”. Important to Strindberg with this and other plays, such as ''Miss Julie'' and '' The Father'', was his desire to achieve the ideals of Naturalism in drama as described and analyzed by the French author and theorist,
Emile Zola Emile or Émile may refer to: * Émile (novel) (1827), autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life * Emile, Canadian film made in 2003 by Carl Bessai * '' Emile: or, On Education'' (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a treatise o ...
— the ''nouvelle formule''. Strindberg modeled ''Pariah'' on the ''Les Quarts d’Heure'' (1888) plays of the French writers Gustave Guiches and Henri Lavedan, which, in his essay “On Modern Drama and Modern Theatre”, Strindberg describes as dramas reduced to a single scene. ''Pariah'' carries on, in a veiled manner, a debate that Strindberg had been having through postal correspondence with the philosopher,
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
, who in '' Götzen-Dämmerung'', portrays a criminal as a strong person, who is just misdirected in life. In ''Pariah'' the criminal, Mr. Y, is portrayed as weak and a criminal from birth. Strindberg in this play shows some influenced of his reading of the French translation of the ''l’uomo delinquente'' (1876) by
Cesare Lombroso Cesare Lombroso ( , ; ; born Ezechia Marco Lombroso; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909) was an Italian eugenicist, criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian school of criminology. He is considered the founder of m ...
, an Italian criminologist, who promotes the idea that criminality can be discerned in a person’s external self, as happens in the play, when Mr. X notices that Mr. Y is “terribly narrow between the ears.”


Synopsis

The play involves a battle of brains between two men, “Mr. X'' and'' Mr. Y’’ in a Darwinian struggle for survival. The men are in a room in a farmhouse during a storm. A box of gold sits on the table, for which Mr. X is responsible. Both have committed crimes in their personal history. Mr. X, in his youth, murdered a man, but he was not caught, and he explains why it is right that he avoided punishment. As for Mr. Y, he forged a financial document, which secured a loan. For this he was caught and sent to prison, and he explains why it was unfair that he was punished. As both stories are shared during the play, it sets the men against one another. Which one is really the most guilty, and have either of them atoned for his sin? Mr. Y finally rationalizes that Mr. X. should pay Mr. Y a penalty or a bribe as a way of bringing "a little better balance into these unequal human conditions." Or it can be seen as Mr. X paying a bribe to keep Mr. Y quiet about Mr. X's crime. The atmosphere becomes tense and threatening, and the contest comes to a head when Y becomes armed with a knife, and X is armed with a stronger will, and can use his greater mental prowess to overpower Y.


Characters

*Mr. X is a middle-age archeologist. He has been digging up and collecting treasures of antiquity. *Mr. Y is a middle-age Swedish/American. He has arrived to collect insects for a small museum.


External links

The text of ''Pariah'' in the Edwin Björkman translation online.The text of ''Pariah'' online
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References

{{August Strindberg Plays by August Strindberg One-act plays 1889 plays Two-handers