THE PORTRAIT OF AN ENLIGHTENED MONARCH: STRINDBERG'S GUSTAV III

A defining feature of Strindberg's historical drama is that history is only the background, while the individual is the one around whom the play is built. This article maps the three planes (human, political and cultural) on which Strindberg constructs the image of the enlightened monarch Gustav III, both in the play from 1902 and in the volumes Svenska folket and Svenska oden och aventyr. The character traits and historical events highlighted in Strindberg's play are compared to memoirs from the eighteenth century.