Strindberg repeatedly uses symbolism drawn from nature to great effect throughout his play Miss Julie, emphasizing the impact of the sexual act on the shifting class divisions between Julie and Jean. The evocative images used by Strindberg throughout the play highlight the protagonists' deviation from the socially acceptable behavioral norms of the time. Already in the setting, the air is heavy with sexual tension. Egil Tornqvist (1999) writes: "For a Swede, the birch leaves in the kitchen indicate that it is Midsummer's Day, Midsummer's Eve being the day of the year when "all rank is put in order side", where masters and servants gather – and where drinking and lovemaking are carnivalesque" and "there is a connection between the lilacs on the kitchen table and the lilac bushes outside, suggesting that both groups share the same sexual needs (lilacs as aphrodisiacs). The combination of Cupid, lilacs and phallic-shaped poplars speaks for itself. Strategically placed symbols, repeated throughout the play, illustrate and further emphasize the gulf between the social classes of the time caused by increasing seduction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay Near the gap, Jean and Julie describe dreams, which are an immediate revelation of their desires in terms of class and therefore success or of personal freedom. . While Julie feels “dizzy” at the “top of a high pillar” due to her isolated position in society, Jean is “lying under a tree, in a dark forest.” The feeling of being trapped in a dense forest creates an atmosphere of suffocation; being kept in “darkness” reveals the extent to which John’s domestic class limits his opportunities. He wants to “climb and climb” higher in the tree to steal “the nest with the golden egg”, but “the trunk is so thick, slippery, the first branch is too high, too high…” The trunk “slippery” can be seen as a phallic symbol, with the “golden egg” being a yonic representation of Julie’s pure virginity that he longs to “steal.” The nest symbolizes the female genitalia, enclosing an egg made of the most perfect gold metal, a symbol of rich treasure and status. Clearly, climbing the tree symbolizes John's desire to rise in society as well as a sexual act. According to Sigmund Freud (1920), “ladders, climbs, steps in relation to their ascent are certainly symbols of sexual relations”. By using the notion of theft, Strindberg also illustrates the forbidden nature of Jean's desires. Stealing the innocent egg implies that he will steal Miss Julie's virginity through coitus. The branch is part of Julie herself in this case. However, it is too “high” because she has not yet let herself “fall” to the “ground”; she did not lower herself by consenting to this act which would cause her to “fall into disgrace”. It is further implied that Jean's supposedly long-standing desire to have sex with Julie is intended to elevate his class through the sentence; “If we slept on nine summer flowers tonight, our dreams would come true.” True to Swedish tradition, it is said that if an unmarried woman picks seven or nine types of flowers and places them under her pillow, she will dream of her future husband1. However, as any audience of the time would have known, Julie marrying the servant would automatically result in her own social downfall. Indeed, she would “fall” from her “pillar” because of the scandal, even if John literally gained a helping hand from the branch he has not yet “caught”. Una Chaudhuri (1993) writes that “the raw symbolism ofThese dreams, their imagery of up and down, up and down, rise and fall, offer a practical and schematic key to interpreting the plot, inviting us to read the sexual encounter as a moment of class reversal.” There is a sense of inevitability in Jean's belief that he will next "make others shine like a ladder" and Julie's openly provocative interest in him as a man. The religious symbols in relation to nature are also particularly revealing in revealing Julie's previous innocence, the ramifications of the sexual act on this chastity, and the division between the two characters' class positions. . Jean's memories of their childhood are a powerful tool used by Strindberg to highlight Julie's youthful purity and thus recognize the extent to which she will "fall" after the act. Jean evokes its wholesomeness by describing the white and fragrant “jasmine bushes,” the color signifying this purity. The description of Julie residing in "the Big House" in "The Garden of Eden" with "Apple Trees" suggests a biblical setting. Her statement that "all boys steal apples" once again implies the inevitability of the coming sexual act, but further presents her as the temptress, Eve, guided by Satan. John's reference to "The Tree of Life" gives this first part of the play an even heavier biblical symbolism. The antithesis between the lush and generous “Garden of Eden” and John’s youth – a “wasteland…not even a tree” – colors the class divide between the two characters. The scent of flowers is used by Strindberg to emphasize the class contrast. divisions several times. When Jean recounts his hiding in the sweet-smelling Turkish pavilion before fleeing through the stinking toilets, Strindberg includes in his scenes Jean breaking a twig of lilac and handing it to Julie for her to smell, flowers of which they are sometimes said to symbolize the innocence of youth. , but which in Sweden (and by Strindberg himself in his preface) were considered aphrodisiacs. Anna Westerstohl Stenport (2012) considers this to be a “deodorizing” act. Nevertheless, Julie “took the lilac and now drops it on the table.” This action could be considered as a desire on his part to let himself “fall” into the mud. Jean recounts how, when he observed Julie as a child in the “rose garden,” he “dived into the compost heap…the thistles, the mud, the stench.” Through this comparison, it becomes clear that she is "higher" than him in terms of class while he is a "peasant", not only low in his physical position, but in filth, assailed by the stench of his escape through humans. excrement and scratched by thistles. As a young, innocent child, Julie has not yet "fallen from grace" and is still "pure." However, once the sexual act occurs, Jean describes Julie as "worthless", illustrating his opinion with "I'm sorry you've fallen so low, lower than your own cook." I'm sorry that the flowers are trampled, trampled in the mud and autumn rain. It is obvious here that the roles have reversed; the repetition of the mud metaphor, now used to describe Julie's social position instead of John's, highlights how inappropriate sexual relationships were once an important determinant of class position. Furthermore, the white flowers “trampled in the mud” denote the desecration of her purity and the fact that she has now joined John in the “earth”. The repetition of metaphors is particularly prevalent in relation to John's dream; in the first description, although it is implied that Julie is