Monologue

Mother Monologue from To Damascus

From To Damascus by August Strindberg

female · anguished · 1:12 min

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Yet I've been sitting here since I was a child, watching life glide past as the river does below. Here, on the road, I've watched the children of men go by, playing, haggling, begging, cursing and dancing. I love this seat and I love the river below, though it does much damage every year and washes away the property we inherited. Last spring it carried our whole hay crop off, so that we had to sell our beasts. The property's lost half its value in the last few years, and when the lake in the mountains has reached its new level and the swamp's been drained into the river, the water will rise till it washes the house away. We've been at law about it for ten years, and we've lost every appeal; so we shall be destroyed. It's as inevitable as fate.

About this piece

The Mother reflects on her life and the inevitable destruction of her home due to the rising river, expressing deep sorrow over her family's losses and the futility of their legal battles.

40s · despair · fate · loss · isolation · family

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