?Why is Mrs. X afraid of Miss Y

Based on the Drama: The Stronger
(Strindberg, August. “The Stronger”. Translated by Edith and Waer Oland. Literature and the Writing Process, Elizabeth McMahan, et al., 2016.)

While reading The Stronger, several questions baffled me completely that might have done the same to you. I was curious to know who the stronger person is and more importantly, what had caused this strength. In my opinion, fear is the root cause of the whole hardship. Strindberg has done such an outstanding job that although you read a one-act play, you feel like you have travelled far and leaed much (Al-Doory 1). Mrs. X approaches Miss Y while she is sitting in the coer of a ladies’ café, drinking coffee on her own on Christmas Eve. From the beginning, she starts humiliating her, “Good afteoon, Amelie. You’re sitting here alone on Christmas Eve like a poor bachelor” (Strindberg 1)! She even insults her by saying that she is as a stork by a rat hole. She knows that Miss Y had an affair with Mrs. X’s husband, so it seems she had been looking for a chance to take revenge.

For some reasons, Mrs. X is obviously afraid of Miss Y that I am going to clarify three of them. First of all, she states herself, “I was afraid of you, so afraid that I didn’t dare let you out of my sight”. She could not stay away from her because she had always been conceed about losing her husband to another woman, so she chose to be her friend to keep an eye on her. As in The Godfather movie that Al Pacino says “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer”. Furthermore, Mrs. X shoots Miss Y with her child’s popgun. She indicated that she is even willing to kill Miss Y rather than reasoning with her. This proves her unconscious anger and fear towards Miss Y that is expressed this way. Moreover, Mrs. X is the only speaking character; even when Miss Y makes an attempt to talk, she immediately suppresses her. Therefore, she must be frightened of what Miss Y has to say.

The fact that Miss Y is sitting alone in a ladies’ café confirms that she is emotionally exhausted by men disturbing her peace. She is the solo woman who has nothing to lose, and one must be afraid of such a person. One who has nothing to lose is capable of doing such unbelievable actions that can destroy a family very easily. She has lost her role in a play, broken up with her fiancé and with someone who is married; now his wife has come to take revenge. However, Miss Y seems to be harmless as she can still keep calm after all Mrs. X has told her; after how she dishonored her. Mrs. X is only blaming Miss Y even though her own husband had a key role in their affair; in other words, cheating. She could not have done it without Bob being a part of it, so the fact that Mrs. X is only accusing Miss Y shows her denial to see the reality.

She pretends to be calm and carefree, but her anger shows itself later in the play. Her mask of calmness wears off as she says, “I hate you, hate you, hate you” (Strindberg 4)! Although she hates her and considers her as an enemy, she still pursues her interests. She drinks chocolate and loves tulips. In addition, she dresses just like her and her son is named after Miss Y’s father. All these signs show that Bob has loved Miss Y, don’t they? I believe he did because he has compelled his ex’s interests to his current wife. He definitely wanted something to cling his feelings to; probably his son’s name. If he had a daughter, wouldn’t he name it Amelie? So who is actually the stronger one here? The one who imagines to be loved or the one who is actually loved? In my opinion Miss Y knows that she has lost nothing, therefore, she keeps quiet because she is confident enough to let Mrs. X say what she wants to and ignore her completely.

Here we have witnessed that Mrs. X is the one who lost and now she is denying what she knows deep down. She is certain that Miss Y has her husband’s heart and that is why she became friends with her. She tried to be a better wife than Miss Y could be, so she copied her interests, but in her whole life there was a sign of Miss Y. Consequently, she approached her with a purpose; to remove her from her life and get back to her fake relationship with her disloyal husband. To conclude, Mrs. X is the weaker person. As a result, she is afraid of her component.

- Written by Marziye Alavi, undergraduate of English Language and Literature.

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