Interest in
chemistry had long been stirring in Strindberg's mind; it now began
to deepen. About this time also he passed through that religious
crisis which swept artistic Europe, awakened nearly a century after
his death by that Swedenborgian poet and artist, William Blake. To
this period belongs "To Damascus," a play of deepest soul probing,
which was not finished however until 1904.
Going to Paris in the fall of 1894, to pursue chemical research
most seriously, he ran into his own success at the theatres there.
"The Creditors" had been produced and Strindberg was induced to
undertake the direction of "The Father" at the Theatre de l'Oeuvre,
where it was a tremendous success. A Norwegian correspondent was
forced to send word home that with "The Father" Strindberg had
overreached Ibsen in Paris, because what it had never been possible
to do with an Ibsen play, have a run in Paris, they were now doing
with Strindberg. At the same time the Theatre des Ecaliers put on
"The Link," the Odean produced "The Secret of the Guild," and the
Chat Noir "The Kings of Heaven," and translations of his novels
were running in French periodicals. But Strindberg turned his back
on all this success and shut himself up in his laboratory to delve
into chemistry. This he did with such earnestness that with his
discovery of Swedenborg his experimentations and speculations
reduced him to a condition of mind that unfitted him for any kind
of companionship, so that when his wife left him to go to their
child who was ill and far away, he welcomed the complete freedom.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29