In The Birth of Tragedy Nietzche discusses at length the duality inherent in the development of art. This duality is caused by two opposing principles called Apollonian and Dionysian. These two principles are employed in August Strindberg's Miss Julie through the main character of Miss Julie. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Social class is a major theme of the play, and its relationship to Apollonian and Dionysian duality is evident when looking at Miss Julie. Throughout the show, Miss Julie is caught between staying in her classroom and breaking it. This is his struggle respectively between Apollonian reason and Dionysian desire. The whole idea of class is Apollonian – based on rationality and the division of individuals – while the idea of no class system is Dionysian – based on community. Miss Julie goes back and forth between these two ideas constantly, and her internal struggle can be clearly seen through the symbolism evident in her recurring dream: "I climbed to the top of a pillar, and I'm sitting there, and I can see nothing 'it's a way to go down. I look down, I feel dizzy, but I have to go down, but I don't have the courage to jump up there, and I want to fall, but I don't fall" (Strindberg 127). She is obviously tremendously conflicted, wanting on the one hand to break away from her class, while on the other reasoning that her social constraints make this impossible. In Nietzchean terms, Miss Julie's Dionysian desire can be seen as an "intoxicated reality" because, in class terms, she "seeks to destroy the individual and redeem him through a mystical feeling of unity" (Nietzche 38). this class struggle within Miss Julie illustrates Nietzche's duality, but so does the entire composition of her character outlined by Strindberg. In the preface, Strindberg suggests motivations for Miss Julie's fate at the end of the play, listing "the festive atmosphere of Midsummer Night; the absence of her father; her menstruation; her association with animals; the 'the intoxicating effect of the dance... the powerful aphrodisiac influence of the flowers..." (Strindberg 102). These motivations can be seen as Dionysian forces, which Miss Julie must counter with rationality and avoid allowing herself to be driven into hysteria. In Nietzchean terms he must “keep in mind that measured moderation, that freedom from the wildest emotions, that calmness of the sculptor god” (Nietzche 35). Once again, his motivations are Dionysian desires, which he must keep in check with Apollonian reason. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Finally, what happens to Miss Julie at the end of the play illustrates the Apollonian/Dionysian duality on many levels. First, in the preface, Strindberg claims that Miss Julie is a half-woman type and then explains that this type gives rise to an "indeterminate sex for which life is torture, but fortunately they succumb... because their the repressed instinct explodes uncontrollably..." (Strindberg 104). This sounds remarkably similar to Nietzche's descriptions of the relationship between the Apollonian and Dionysian cultures. Nietzche argues that Apollonian consciousness, the "mere appearance" of everyday life in the eyes of the individual, is nothing more than a veil, used to hide the Dionysian world of suffering. It seems that Miss Julie remained safely hidden behind this veil until the end, when she asks Jean to order her to kill herself. He states that it's as easy as being hypnotized, to which Jean replies that "the subject must,.
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