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Strindberg, August, 1849-1912

"Married"

"
"And blame the husband for it."
"That's a shame! She took to drinking in Julian's studio. She was
going to be an artist, you know, but she didn't succeed. When they
rejected her picture at the exhibition, she threw herself at the head
of this poor devil and married him to hide her defeat."
"Yes, I know, and made his life a burden until he is but the shadow of
his former self. They started with a home of their own in Paris, and
he kept two maids for her; still she called herself his servant.
Although she was mistress over everything, she insisted that she was
but his slave She neglected the house, the servants robbed them right
and left, and he saw their home threatened with ruin without being
able to move a finger to avert it. She opposed every suggestion he
made; if he wanted black, she wanted white. In this way she broke his
will and shattered, his nerves. He broke up his home and took her to a
boarding-house to save her the trouble of housekeeping and enable her
to devote herself entirely to her art. But she won't touch a brush and
goes out all day long with her friend. She has tried to come between
him and his work, too, and drive him to drink, but she has not managed
it; therefore she hates him, for he is the better of the two.


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