Miss Julie is set on Midsummer’s Eve, and the text makes it clear that this date matters—Miss Julie feels empowered to break rank and dance with the servants and there is an air of festivity and elan. It is thus important that readers understand a bit more about this holiday (if not for the fact that it was the title and subject of a popular horror movie from 2019) so they can fully understand the play.
Midsummer, or Midsommar, is a pagan, pre-Christian holiday that celebrates the midpoint of the harvest season and the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and falls on either June 20th or 21st. It was not in its holiday form in pre-Christian years, but did feature some of the dances and fertility rites that would later form the holiday itself after it was melded into the celebration of the feast day of St. John the Baptist on June 24th. For example, the bonfires traditionally burned in the festivities originated in these St. John celebrations, as Jesus deemed the saint a “bright and burning light.”
The holiday is, as stated, rooted in pagan traditions. Its rituals included, and often still include, dancing, drinking, singing, lighting bonfires, collecting flowers, and casting love spells (the time of year was an agriculturally fertile one, so sex and love were woven into the tapestry of celebration). By the 1500s, the famous maypole was a part of the celebrations—revellers would dance around the tall pole in order to pray for fertility for their lands. Real Scandinavia’s website explains, “Midsummer was considered to be a time of magic, and anything to do with nature was thought to have a special power. Gathering flowers to weave into wreaths and crowns was a way to harness nature’s magic to ensure good health throughout the year. Even though most people these days probably are unaware of the magical origins of the tradition, weaving crowns of flowers is still a major part of any Midsummer observance.” Sweden’s official website also adds more details to the traditions: “Ever since the 6th century AD, Midsummer bonfires have been lit around Europe. In Sweden, they were mainly found in the southern part of the country. Young people also liked to visit holy springs, where they drank the healing water and amused themselves with games and dancing. These visits were a reminder of how John the Baptist baptised Christ in the River Jordan. Midsummer Night is the lightest of the year and was long considered a magical night, as it was the best time for telling people’s futures. Girls ate salted porridge so that their future husbands might bring water to them in their dreams, to quench their thirst. You could also discover treasures, for example by studying how moonbeams fell.”
It is not surprising that Strindberg chose to set his boundary-pushing play during this holiday, and Miss Julie's clamoring for freedom, love, and excitement resonates more strongly when we understand the origins and characteristics of the holiday.
