August Strindberg

Johan August Strindberg (22 January 1849 – 14 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel.
In Sweden Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries his renown is mostly as a playwright.
== Tossup Questions ==
# An adaptation of this man's most famous play, set in Britain on the eve of Labour's 1945 landslide election victory, was written by Patrick Marber. This author claimed that his mental torment was caused by "the Powers" and founded the Intimate Theater, where he used Arnold Böcklin paintings to dress the set of a play whose protagonist is sent to a performance of Wagner's The Valkyrie by Jacob (*) Hummel. In addition to that play about the student Arkenholz, he wrote a play set on Midsummer's Eve in which the "unfaithful" dog Diana is given an abortifacient by the cook Christine. A bird in that play is decapitated by the Count's valet Jean, who sleeps with, then later hands a razor to, the title woman. For 10 points, name this Swedish playwright of The Ghost Sonata and Miss Julie.
# In a play by this author, an artillery officer locks up a piano after his wife plays "The Entry of the Boyars." One of his characters is able to sense the collapse of a building because he is a Sunday child, and later meets a parrot-like madwoman. In another play by this author, a man makes up a story about seeing a woman outside a "Turkish pavilion" and attempting to commit suicide in an oat bin. One play by this author is partly set in Fingal's Cave and is about the daughter of Indra, while in another of his plays, two characters decide to open a hotel in Switzerland and a finch's head is cut off by the valet Jean. For 10 points, name this author of The Ghost Sonata, A Dream Play, and Miss Julie, a Swedish playwright.
# A play by this man ends with a man kept on suicide watch having a stroke on the lap of the nurse. This man described Laura's attempts to give the life of an artist to her daughter Bertha, which necessitates driving her husband, The Captain, insane. In a play by this man, Jakob Hummel describes the Colonel and the Mummy in the closet to (*) Arkenholz. One character created by this man broke off her engagement because her fiancé refused to jump over a whip. In a play by this man, the cook Christine gives an abortifacient to a dog, and the footman Jean decapitates a pet bird before giving the title character a razor with which she kills herself. For 10 points, name this Swedish playwright of The Ghost Sonata and Miss Julie.
# A character created by this author discovers signs of extraterrestrial life using a spectroscope, but is thought to be insane when his wife misreports that he used a microscope. That character is later put in a straitjacket after throwing a burning lamp at his wife. This author wrote a play in which a male character is made to jump over a riding whip twice, after which he ends his engagement with the title character. (*) Laura fights to maintain control of her daughter Bertha from the Captain in another play by him. In a play by him, a bird's head is chopped off while two characters prepare to run away from the Count. At the end of that play, the valet Jean gives the title character a razor blade, and she leaves to commit suicide. For 10 points, name this Swedish author of The Father and Miss Julie.
# Mademoiselle Y's name is revealed to be Amelia in one play by this author consisting of a monologue by Frau X. This playwright of The Stronger faced a blasphemy trial over the publication of his short story collection Married. Frederik commits arson to kill himself and his family because Elise misused all their money in his play The (*) Pelican. This author wrote a play in which the title character's psychosis foils a plan to start a hotel at Lake Como. A mummy convinces Jacob Hummel to hang himself in the presence of Arkenholtz in one drama by this author, whose most famous character reacts to the beheading of a canary by killing herself with a razor. For 10 points, name this Swedish playwright of The Ghost Sonata and Miss Julie.
Category:Literature