Creditors

Creditors is a naturalistic tragicomedy by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was written in Swedish during August and September 1888 in Denmark. It was first published in Danish in February 1889 and appeared in Swedish in 1890. It premiered at the Dagmar Theatre in Copenhagen in March 1889. It is seen as one of Strindberg's most powerful plays. Strindberg himself, writing in 1892, described it as his "most mature work." Characters Adolph - an artist. Tekla - a novelist, Adolph's wife. Gustav - a teacher. Plot This three-character play takes place in a parlor adjoined to a room in a seaside resort hotel. It begins with Adolph, an artist, sculpting a small nude female figure. With him is Adolph's new friend, Gustav, who has been visiting for a week and inciting changes in Adolph's life: Adolph was a painter, until Gustav persuaded him to be a sculptor. Adolph's wife, Tekla, has been away for the past week; when she parted, Adolph upset her by calling her an "old flirt" and suggesting that she was too old to play the coquette. Adolph credited his wife, Tekla, for educating him, but as he opens up to Gustav about his marriage, he starts changing his mind about how happy he is. Adolph's fears boil up at one point, causing him to become, according to Gustav, almost epileptic. The audience begins to suspect that Gustav is, in fact, Tekla's ex-husband, about whom the two men speak constantly. After leaving her first husband Gustav, Tekla wrote a novel that was a roman a clef with the main character based on Gustav, there portrayed as an idiot. As she now approaches the hotel, Gustav suggests that he will hide in the next room and eavesdrop, while Adolph will attempt to apply his lessons on how to handle Tekla, and sound out his wife to see if she is unfaithful, and to see if she will seek revenge on Adolph for his unkind comment before she left.