The stormy personal life of the great Swedish dramatist August Strindberg was punctuated with duels between the sexes, with ruthless, aggressive women usurping the supposedly male prerogative of decision-making and leadership. More than in any of his other plays, Strindberg explores this theme in depth in The Father. In exploring the emotionally charged battle of the sexes and the clashes between scientific and religious convictions, The Father vividly delineates the essential quality of a man's relationship with his wife and his daughter. The problem of paternity, trivial at the outset, develops into marital upheaval and a no-holds-barred struggle between man and woman. Widely regarded as one of Strindberg's best literary efforts, The Father remains one of the most gripping psychological dramas of the theater.