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''The Dance of Death'' (''Dödsdansen'') refers to two plays, ''The Dance of Death I'', and ''The Dance of Death II'', both written by August Strindberg in 1900. Part one was written in September, and then, after receiving a response to the play, part two was written in November. The two plays have much in common, and each is a full evening in the theatre. If they are joined together as one theatre-going experience, a couple of unexplained discrepancies between the two plays present difficulties. For example, in part one the Captain is desperately poor, and in part two he is well-to-do.〔Meyer, Michael. ''Strindberg''. Random House. 1985. page 407-411. ISBN 0-394-50442-9〕 ==''Dance of Death I''== ''Dance of Death I'' is written in a spirit of the "blackest pessimism".〔Strindberg, August. Meyer, Michael, translator. ''Strindberg Plays: 2: Dream Play; Dance of Death; The Stronger''. Introduction. A&C Black. 2014. ISBN 1472574060, 9781472574060〕 In performance it can reveal a surprising streak of black humor, and it can leave the audience with an astonishing and powerful impression.〔Meyer, Michael. ''Strindberg''. Random House. 1985. page 411. ISBN 0-394-50442-9〕 The story is about a man and wife who hate each other, who are brutally and ferociously vicious towards each other, who are trapped in a miserable marriage. And soon they'll be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. The husband, Edgar, is a retired artillery captain and a tyrant of a man. His wife, Alice, is a former actress. They live somewhat isolated on an island, and are not popular or social. Their children do not live with them; each parent has turned the children against the other parent. Edgar is having heart problems and may not have long to live. Alice sometimes plays the piano as her husband dances a kind of bizarre saber dance. As he dances, she hopes it might kill him, and he threatens to cut her out of his will. The third important character is Kurt, who is Alice's cousin. He visits and learns that in the past the captain worked with Kurt’s former wife in a way that caused Kurt to lose custody of his own children in his divorce. Kurt and Alice join forces to plot against her husband, and the cousins’ relationship becomes passionate and sexualized, as Alice wants him to kiss her foot, while Kurt talks of bondage, and bites her like a vampire. "Vampire" and "cannibal" are significant images in this play and are used as invectives against the captain. A type of underlying villain in this play are the state laws that unfairly govern divorce and child custody.〔Strindberg, August. Carlson, Harry G. translator. ''Strindberg: Five Plays''. University of California Press. 1983. ISBN 0-520-04698-6〕 The story makes its rampaging way through dark corridors of the human soul towards the conclusion. In the final moment, what has survived amid the emotional and psychological wreckage is, unexpectedly, the marriage. The play ends right where it started.〔Lamm, Martin. Carlson, Harry G. translator and editor. ''August Strindberg''. Benjamin Bloom, Inc. 1971〕〔Meyer, Michael. ''Strindberg''. Random House. 1985. page 408. ISBN 0-394-50442-9〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Dance of Death (Strindberg play)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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