In 1859, less than thirty years before Strindberg wrote Miss Julie, Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, a book that revolutionized scientific thought on the subjects of evolution and environmental adaptation Darwin identified a process he called natural selection. According to this theory, the earth cannot support all organisms that develop and so these life forms must compete with one another for environmental resources such as food and living space. The tendency for the hardier species to prevail and propagate while the weaker species die off is what Darwin termed the survival of the fittest.

Darwin's ideas were extremely controversial at this time. Previously, people believed that God had created each species individually Further, Darwin's theories indicated that humans evolved from lower life forms—-more specifically lower primates such as apes. To many, this idea was sacrilegious (as they believed God had created humans in...