The Count’s Kitchen
The action of the play takes place in the Count’s kitchen. The kitchen is large and “its ceiling and walls are partially covered by draperies and greens” (71). Here, where “a fountain with a statue of Cupid, syringa bushes in bloom and tall poplars are located,” the main characters sort out their relationship. The kitchen “looks cozy” and there are all the facilities for the cook. The imagery of the kitchen gives a strong impression of the luxurious and rich house of the Count, but it is also Kristin's domain and a place where Miss Julie does not belong.
The Garden of Paradise
As a child Jean comes to the garden of the Count with his mother to weed onions. Where the garden begins, there is “a Turkish pavilion, shaded with jessamine and in bushes of honeysuckle" (82). Jean does not know what the pavilion is for, but he has never seen anything “so beautiful” in his life. He enters the house and sees “many pictures of kings and emperors on the walls” and there are “red-fringed curtains at the windows.” It is a real fairy tale. The imagery of the Count’s garden gives an impression of paradise, but the troubles that ensue for Jean belie its idyllic appearance.
Jean
Strindberg has a vivid description of Jean that encapsulates the man's social aspirations and the problem of transcending one's class: "He calls himself an aristocrat and has learnt the secrets of good society, is polished on the surface but coarse underneath, and already wears a frock coat with style, although there is no guarantee that the body beneath it is clean" (62).
Coat of Arms
Miss Julie despairs after she sleeps with Jean, especially once she realizes her father might find out. She is convinced he will be so horrified that he will have a stroke and die, "And then our coat of arms will be broken upon the coffin" (103). This is a dramatic image that signifies what is at stake here—not just her father's death but the death of their entire ancestral line.
