The Creditors
| Creditors | |
|---|---|
| Written by | August Strindberg |
| Characters | Tekla, a writer Adolf, her husband, a painter Gustav, her former husband, a teacher Two Ladies A Porter |
| Date premiered | 9 March 1889 |
| Place premiered | Dagmar Theatre, Copenhagen |
| Original language | Swedish, Danish |
| Genre | Naturalistic tragicomedy |
| Setting | A drawing room in a summer hotel by the sea |
Creditors (Swedish: Fordringsägare) 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."
In 1891, Strindberg accused Henrik Ibsen of plagiarising the play in his Hedda Gabler (1890). Strindberg wrote: "Hedda Gabler is a bastard of Laura in The Father and Tekla in Creditors".
This three-character play takes place in the parlor of a seaside resort hotel — not a completely private space. 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 filling Adolph’s weak and malleable mind with ideas: Adolph was a painter, until Gustave persuaded him to be a sculptor, then Gustav persuades him that sculpting isn’t right for him after all. Also, Adolph loves and trusts his wife, Tekla, he credits her for educating him, and he was happy in his marriage — until Gustav changes his mind about those things. To the audience Gustav seems to be a devious character, who, Iago-like, is stirring up Adolph’s insecurities and endangering the relationship between Adolph and his wife. Adolph’s fears boil up at one point, causing him to become, at Gustav’s suggestion, almost epileptic. Gustav is making Adolph weaker, while, ironically, Gustav presents himself as providing life lessons in how to be strong in one’s relationship. The audience begins to suspect that Gustav is, in fact, Tekla’s ex-husband. Adolph had stolen Tekla away from Gustav, and then Tekla wrote a novel that was a roman a clef with the main character based on Gustav. Tekla’s novel portrays Gustav as an idiot. So, Gustav is motivated for revenge. 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. As she now approaches the hotel, Gustav suggests that he will hide in the next room and eavesdrop, as Adolph will attempt to apply his lessons in “how to handle a woman”, 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. Gustav exits, Tekla enters and is alone with Adolph — with her homecoming being spied on by Gustav.
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