Married by August Strindberg
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show up are never unimportant or trivial. They are well worth seeing
with Strindberg's brilliant illumination thrown upon them. August Strindberg has left a remarkably rich record of his life in various works, especially in his autobiographical series of novels. He was born in 1849 in Stockholm. His was a sad childhood passed in extreme poverty. He succeeded in entering the University of Upsala in 1867, but was forced for a time on account of lack of means to interrupt his studies. He tried his fortune as schoolmaster, actor, and journalist and made an attempt to study medicine. All the while he was active in a literary way, composing his first plays in 1869. In 1874 he obtained a position in the Royal Library, where he devoted himself to scientific studies, learned Chinese in order to catalogue the Chinese manuscripts, and wrote an erudite monograph which was read at the Academy of Inscriptions in Paris. His first important literary productions were the drama _Master Olof_ (1878) and the novel _The Red Room_ (1879). Disheartened by the failure of _Master Olof_, he gave up literature for a long time. When he returned to it, he displayed an amazing productivity. Work followed work in quick succession--novels, short stories, dramas, histories, historical studies, and essays. _The Swedish People_ is said to be the most popular book in Sweden next to the Bible. The mere enumeration of his writings would occupy more than two pages. His versatility led him to make researches in physics and chemistry and natural science and to write on those subjects. Through works like _The Red Room_, _Married_, and the dramas _The Father_ and _Miss Julia_, Strindberg attached himself to the naturalistic school of literature. Another period of literary |
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