SOURCE: Brantly, Susan. “The Formal Tension in Strindberg's Carl XII. Scandinavian Studies 62, no. 1 (winter 1990): 92-107.

In the following essay, Brantly examines Carl XII and considers its place in Strindberg's oeuvre.

In the cycle of twelve historical plays written after Inferno (1897), Strindberg is constantly aware of the Conscious Will in history and seeks to interpret the logic of its tendencies.¹ A central wish of the Conscious Will in Strindberg's historical cycle appears to be the rise of democracy and the abolishment of absolutism. Strindberg stresses this theme even at the expense of historical accuracy.

Among Sweden's rulers, Charles XII represents for Strindberg the acme of the abuse of absolutism. In Strindberg's vocabulary, Charles XII was synonymous with a lust for power and domination, at the expense of the Swedish people. No doubt Strindberg felt that Sweden's greatest tyrant deserved special treatment, and in 1901, he added Carl XII to his...