The real and fictional lives of Victoria Benedictsson​











 

Victoria Benedictsson (1850-1888) was a Swedish playwright and author. She had written a play called Den bergtagna which was discovered after her death (by suicide) in 1888. It was published in 1890. In some ways the plot of the play parallels her life. It is about a brilliant woman, Louise, who is in a tempestuous relationship with a so-called "radical" male artist. Despite the seeming unconventionality of their relationship, she cannot have any identity other than wife, mother, etc, and she ultimately takes her own life. 

 

Den bergtagna seems like an important precursor to Hedda Gabler and to August Strindberg's Miss Julie (​​1888), which also features a unsatisfied woman who, afraid of scandal, takes her own life.

 

It seems that Strindberg (and Ibsen) were "inspired" quite heavily by Benedictsson's life and work. Read this account of Benedictsson's first (unsuccessful) suicide attempt:

"On January 6, 1888, Benedictsson took an excessive amount of morphine and permitted her trusted friend Axel Lundegård to stay by her side as the drugs took effect. Lundegård eventually sought assistance from August Strindberg, who was staying with his family at the same hotel. Meanwhile, Benedictsson vomited up the overdose, taking days to recover (Sprinchorn, “Ibsen” 65-6). Five days later, Strindberg wrote to Lundegård requesting to borrow all the works of Benedictsson in his possession. As an afterthought, Strindberg asks, “How is Fru B?”​​​​​

 

Benedictsson's life was apparently the clear inspiration for Miss Julie. But also, some of the stories  of her life feel eerily similar to Hedda Gabler. For example, this description of her childhood:

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"Her father, on the other hand, seemed to be the king of freedom. The two of them would ride over the open fields and he’d teach her to wrestle, whistle and shoot. Galloping to keep up, Victoria duly wrestled, whistled and shot, doing her best to be the son her father longed for."

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and this description of her marriage:

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"Now 20, she deplored the options ahead of her: working as a governess or staying at home as an unmarried daughter. So, when an old suitor turned up – Christian Benedictsson, 30 years her senior, a widower and father of five – she married him"

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Jørgen Tesman is not quite such a desperate choice, but it does seem like Victoria too was "spent," as Hedda describes it.​ She eventually also assumed a male identity of Ernst Ahlgren, and published short stories under that pen name. There is so much more to say about her! You can read more here.

 

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