is very wholesome. And if I have
learned from you how to dress--_tant mieux_!--it has only given me
a stronger hold on my husband--and you have lost where I have
gained. Yes, judging by several signs, I think you have lost him
already. Of course, you meant me to break with him--as you did, and
as you are now regretting--but, you see, _I_ never would do that.
It won't do to be narrow-minded, you know. And why should I take
only what nobody else wants? Perhaps, after all, I am the stronger
now. You never got anything from me; you merely gave--and thus
happened to me what happened to the thief--I had what you missed
when you woke up. How explain in any other way that, in your hand,
everything proved worthless and useless? You were never able to
keep a man's love, in spite of your tulips and your passions--and I
could; you could never learn the art of living from the books--as I
learned it; you bore no little Eskil, although that was your
father's name. And why do you keep silent always and everywhere--
silent, ever silent? I used to think it was because you were so
strong; and maybe the simple truth was you never had anything to
say--because you were unable to-think! [Rises and picks up the
slippers] I'm going home now--I'll take the tulips with me---your
tulips. You couldn't learn anything from others; you couldn't bend
and so you broke like a dry stem--and I didn't. Thank you, Amelia,
for all your instructions. I thank you that you have taught me how
to love my husband. Now I'm going home--to him! [Exit.]

(Curtain.)

CREDITORS

INTRODUCTION

This is one of the three plays which Strindberg placed at the head
of his dramatic production during the middle ultra-naturalistic
period, the other two being "The Father" and "Miss Julia." It is,
in many ways, one of the strongest he ever produced. Its rarely
excelled unity of construction, its tremendous dramatic tension,
and its wonderful psychological analysis combine to make it a
masterpiece.

In Swedish its name is "Fordringsaegare." This indefinite form may
be either singular or plural, but it is rarely used except as a
plural. And the play itself makes it perfectly clear that the
proper translation of its title is "Creditors," for under this
aspect appear both the former and the present husband of _Tekla_.
One of the main objects of the play is to reveal her indebtedness
first to one and then to the other of these men, while all the
time she is posing as a per