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... e count's daughter is originally is in a position of authority over Jean because he is a servant in her house. Through the course of the story a reversal of roles is seen. It starts with Jean being in the child ego state while talking to Miss Julie to compliment the parent ego state that she talks to him from. Miss Julie was a very passionate woman and often would grab one of her servants to dance with. A combination of factors brought Jean and Miss Julie together.
Some of these factors are being in the right place at the right time, her fianc breaking off their engagement, her hormones and the atmosphere of a midsummer night. Once Jean has been with Miss Julie for a while he plays games with her to make her want to get with him. He does this after she was teasing him sexually but would not let him kiss her. He senses a strong romantic child in her and he exploits this by telling her a story he made up about him seeing her from across the gate to the estate and he desired to be with her. He said that he slept under an elder bush because he had remembered it could be fatal but he did not die, he only became very ill. He said he did this because he realized because of their class difference he could never have her, and she was a symbol of hopelessness of him ever climbing up from his low class.
This story evokes sympathy and triggers her child which wants to rebel against the established order that says they can never get together. This strategy works as Jean ends up sleeping with Miss Julie. In their relationship the tides turn from Miss Julie being the parent to them being equal to Jean being the parent. The ego states of Miss Julie and Jean will be looked at in chronological order as they rotate like on a wheel where Miss Julie starts out on top but ends up on the bottom with Jean on the opposite side of the wheel. Miss Julie is in a position of power over Jean and this causes her to talk to him as a child from a parent's standpoint. An example of this is when Jean has something in his eyes Miss Julie says ."..
sit down and I'll take it out. Sit still now, quite still! (she slaps his hands) Come, obey me!"Sit still, will you! There! Now it's gone. Kiss my hand and thank me. " 4 As they continue to talk their conversation drifts into that of psychological equals on the adult level.
At this point they begin to discuss their future. Jean gives the idea of going away "to Switzerland, to the Italian lakes! ... " so he could start a hotel and she could be "the pearl of the establishment." Jean is telling her stories of how great it would be as they discuss the feasibility of their budding plan. Miss Julie, in response to Jean's grand plans says "They seem to me quite sensible but - just one question. A big project like that needs a lot of capital. Have you that?" Jean says that she would be able to find a backer if she went with him.
Miss Julie says "I couldn't. And I haven't any money of my own. " Jean says "Then our whole plan collapses. " As they rationally discuss Jean's plans they come to the conclusion that his plan is not possible to execute because of their lack of funds. 5 After their plans are shot down, Miss Julie pouts and becomes very childlike. She instantly drops from the adult ego state into the child and this prompts Jean to shift into the parent ego state. Miss Julie calls Jean a servant and lackey. Jean responds with "servant's whore, lackey's bitch, shut your mouth and get out of here. You dare stand there and call me foul... " Miss Julie becomes submissive "You " re right.
Hit me, trample on me, I've deserved nothing better... help me out of this... " It is clear from preceding dialogue that Jean is now acting the parent after Miss Julie has fallen from her great height in social standing and also dropped to a child ego state. Right near the end of the play, Miss Julie is very submissive and childlike so Jean is very parent like with her. Unlike Miss Julie, Jean has not had an overhaul of his ego, but instead he just reacts to the ego states of the people talking to him. This can bee seen by his response to the count "It's Jean milord.
Yes, milord. Yes, milord. Immediately. At once, milord. Very good, my lord. In a half an hour. " 6 He is still fearful and submissive towards the count while at the same time being authoritative from the parent ego state towards Miss Julie.
Miss Julie wants to kill herself but needs to be told to do so by Jean. Jean ends up giving her a sharpened razor and telling her to go. In conclusion, in Waiting for Godot Vladimir and Estragon are constantly shifting ego states from minute to minute. Sometimes they play like children and at other times they talk seriously on an adult level, and at other times they talk down to each other from the parent to child ego states. Pozzo is always talking down to everyone he comes into contact with. Unlike Jean in Miss Julie, Vladimir and Estragon do not readily shift their ego states to accommodate others such as Pozzo.
Pozzo has no intention of doing anything but talk down to others, thus his conversation with Vladimir and Estragon starts and ends quickly because they are not on complimentary ego levels. Most times Pozzo talks it is an independent speech and seems he isn't really directing his thoughts towards anyone in particular. Vladimir and Estragon do not stay in one ego state for a prolonged length of time, but are switching at random. In Miss Julie, Jean and Miss Julie's ego states rotate like on a wheel where Miss Julie starts out on top as the parent but in the end the wheel has turned and she is the child on the bottom.
Jean is like a chamaeleon when it comes to what ego state he is in. He adapts to the ego states of the people he is transacting with. He does this so that their ego states are complimentary and conversation is allowed to flow. He also manipulates Miss Julie's emotions by appealing to the romantic child in her. It is Miss Julie's fall from her high social status and her consequent fall to a childish ego state that makes Jean adapt his ego. She starts out thinking she is better than Jean because he is her servant.
As they get closer she feels he is her equal so she talks to him as an adult from an adult standpoint. By the end when she has fallen from grace she feels so low that she is talking up to Jean and wants him to tell her what to do. All the while Jean is on the opposite side of the wheel that Miss Julie is on. End Notes 1. Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, p 7 2. Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, p 41 3.
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, p 20 - 21 4. August Strindberg, Miss Julie, p 116 - 117 5. August Strindberg, Miss Julie, p 123 6. August Strindberg, Miss Julie, p 145 Bibliography 1. Berne, Eric. Games People Play.
Grove Press INC, New York Thirtieth printing 1966. 2. Strindberg, August. Plays: One, Miss Julie. See & Warner Limited, Great Britain 1964. 3. Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot.
Grove Press INC 1956.
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Research essay sample on Strindberg Miss Julie And Beckett Waiting For Godot
