Complete summary of Facing Death by August Strindberg
Short Summary of Facing Death
The drama Facing Death written by August Strindberg is about a sacrifice made by a father for his daughters. The father (Durand) sacrifices his own life so that his daughters would have financial security. He sacrifices his life so that his daughters would receive the money from the insurance policy.
In the drama, Durand’s family has gone through a long financial crisis and he didn’t have any way out besides sacrificing himself.
Throughout the drama, Durand has been mistreated by his daughters. However, being a responsible and conscious father, he never left his daughters in misery. He tries every effort to maintain the financial issues of his family and gives security to his daughters the best he could. When his wife died finishing almost all the property, he turned his house into a lodge and worked there to generate money.
However, when he realized that none of his efforts worked to sustain his family financially, he plans to kill himself so that his daughters would get 500 francs as compensation from the insurance company of his insurance policy. The sacrifice he has made for his daughters is so heroic that very few people can dare to take such a step.
Detailed Summary of Facing Death
The drama “Facing Death” opens in a dining room. The main character of the drama Monsieur Durand is standing in the doorway and he is looking outside the door.
In the meantime, his daughter Adèle comes in from the kitchen with a tray with coffee things. She is wearing an apron and turned-up sleeves. As she enters, she asks her father Durand if he has gone for the coffee- bread. Durand replies that he hasn’t gone as has pain in his chest. But he says that he has sent Pierre (a helper).
She doesn’t like her father sending Pierre for the work because they need to pay for him. Since no tourists have visited their house for over two months they are suffering from the financial crisis.
Adèle accuses her father of not doing anything to support the family financially. She says that she has been working hard for a long time for the family’s survival. Durand agrees with her and says that he and his daughter Adèle have done many efforts to support the family financially since the mother (Durand’s wife) died.
Adèle has been working in the kitchen for the customers continuously and he has to take care of the service, the fires, sweep and clean, and deliveries of the food. However, the other two sisters Annette and Thérèse are not working to support the family.
Then, Adèle asks her father if he has paid the fire insurance of their house. Durand replies that he has paid the insurance.
While they are talking, Pierre comes in with a basket. Adèle looks in the basket for bread. Instead of bread, she finds some unpaid bills. The baker returns Pierre saying that he wouldn't send any more bread until he was paid. When Pierre went to the butcher’s and grocer’s to ask for goods, they too did the same.
Adèle finds a package in the basket. Adèle opens and gets some candles. The candles have been bought by Durand to honor his dead son Rèné’s death anniversary.
Adèle, then, remembers her dead mother and says that she was able to handle the financial difficulties but not her father. She informs her father that Monsieur Antonio is coming to their house as a paying guest. Her concern is that now they are unable to serve their guest even with coffee and bread.
Durand asks his daughter Adèle to leave him so that he would talk with Antonio. Adèle, then, asks her father to arrange some money so that Antonio wouldn’t know about their financial troubles. Durand says that he can’t borrow any money because he has been borrowing for ten years. Instead, he wants him to know the reality.
Antonio comes in and greets Durand. Antonio requests some coffee. Durand informs him that they can no longer run their business due to financial crisis. He also tells that they are bankrupt (penniless).
Understanding their financial troubles Antonio wishes to offer them some money. But Durand refuses to accept the help. Instead, he decides to accept the consequences of the crisis. He wants his daughters (Annette and Thérèse) to face the hardship so that they wouldn’t spend their life just playing, singing, flirting, and walking. Durand realizes that his two daughters (Annette and Thérèse) would do nothing until they find bread in the house.
Antonio wants to stay in their house and wants to pay money in advance so that they could manage their financial troubles. Durand refuses him again. He tells Antonio that he doesn’t want to continue the business of what they have been doing because it can’t sustain them. Rather it has only invited troubles. He tells that the last spring their house had been empty for three months. Then at last an American family came and saved them. He says that the one who visits their house tries to take advantage of his poverty by flirting with his daughter. The American son was trying to kiss Thérèse. Now, he is very cautious about his daughter’s security.After some time Antonio convinces Durand to receive ten francs. Then, Durand goes out to get the bread.
Afterward, Thérèse (youngest daughter of Durand) comes in, carrying a rat-trap. She is wearing a morning negligée (dress) and her hair is down. She is presented carelessly. Thérèse gets excited to see Antonio. Antonio praises her beauty. They talk for a while and Thérèse asks for milk and cheese for her cat and rats to her sister Adèle. Adèle tells Thérèse to get them herself. Thérèse shows rude behavior and Adèle advises her to behave properly. Adèle, then, goes into the kitchen to bring coffee.
In the room, Thérèse and Antonio start to chat about their love affair. Annette (another daughter of Durand) comes into the room fully dressed and making her hair look beautiful. Then, Antonio puts his arm around her and kisses her. Monsieur Durand sees what Antonio does and gets furious. Durand asks his daughter Thérèse about the matter of kissing but she tries to hide it. Thérèse rather accuses her father of being a fraud. Thérèse blames her father has told a lie about being a Swiss.
Durand threatens Antonio and asks him to leave the house at once. Durand presents violently against Antonio and tries to hit him with a stick but Thérèse and Annette protect him.
While leaving the home Antonio questions about the ten francs that he has given to Durand. Durand, then, takes a gold piece from his vest pocket and throws it toward Antonio. Thérèse and Annette follow Antonio and ask him not to leave them.
Thérèse gets angry with her father for treating the guest rudely. Durand again asks his daughter Thérèse about her relationship with Antonio. Thérèse tries to hide the matter by changing the topic and she lies that he didn’t kiss her. So, Durand asks his daughter Annette to tell the truth. Annette too hides it telling that she didn’t see anything.
Meanwhile, Adèle comes in with a glass of milk, which she puts on the table. Annette asks Durand to have the milk and enquires about bread. But Thérèse rudely grabs the glass of milk from Durand and didn’t let Durand have the milk. Thérèse complains that her father is spendthrift and his daughters are compelled to starve.
Now, Adèle too blames Durand and treats him as a mad man. Adèle tells that there's another bill that came by way of the kitchen and their father is too irresponsible to deal with financial sufferings.
Durand takes the bill. He pours a glass of water and drinks. Durand sits down and lights his briar pipe (a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco) but again Annette misbehaves her father (Durand) by taking the matches away and forbidding him from smoking. Annette says that he can afford to smoke tobacco and waste money on matches. Adèle and Thérèse both blame their father for their misfortune and financial crisis.
Durand asks his daughters to be kind to him and let him eat something for he hasn’t eaten anything for a long time. His daughters don’t care about his hunger too. Durand was so hungry that he has even eaten the food that has been kept to trap rats. But the food wasn’t poisoned and he survived.
Now, Durand remembers about his wife who threatened him of going to work as a prostitute when she had spent the housekeeping money on lottery tickets. This is what the daughters never knew.
Now, Durand becomes emotional and talks to himself. Durand says that a candle will burn the house and he will earn money. In the meantime, strom has begun to blow outside and grown cloudy. Durand rises quickly and asks Adèle to put out the fire in the stove.
Durand again asks to put out the fire and says that if it catches fire there, they'll get nothing from the insurance. Adèle doesn’t understand anything about what her father is talking about. Durand asks his daughters to obey what he says. Adèle goes into the kitchen, leaving the door open. Durand tells Thérèse and Annette to go up and shut the windows and look after the draughts. Durand tells his daughters that he is going away to get money for them. He has life insurance for six hundred francs if he sells it, and five thousand if he dies.
Then, Durand proposes Thérèse marry Antonio if she is attached to him and if Antonio loves her. Thérèse understands that her father wants to die. Thérèse asks her father not to do so. Thérèse even asks her father to forgive her for her unkindness. Thérèse realizes that her father loves them dearly and gives the matches and milk that she has snatched from him.
Adèle asks Durand if she has a life insurance policy. Durand replies that he sold it long ago. But Durand still has fire insurance. Durand plans to burn the house and receive the money from the insurance policy so that his daughters can have financial security.
Now, Durand tells his daughters about himself. Durand says that he was born in France. Just before he reached the age of conscription (à¤à¤°्ती) he fell in love with the one who later became his wife. To be able to marry, they came to Switzerland and were naturalized (a foreigner who lives in one country to become a citizen of another country). When the last war broke out he was supposed to fight against his own country. Since he couldn’t ethically fight against his motherland, he hid his identity of being French and told everyone that he is a Swiss. Adèle didn’t believe what her father says because Adèle has had a strong trust in her mother.
Durand tells what her mother was like. She completely ruined their property because of her foolish and careless acts. She spent money unnecessarily on the lottery and they became financially weak. That is why Durand has to give up his regular business and turn the house into a lodge to run the family.
Durand says that his wife created a bad impression of him in front of the daughters. He didn’t tell anything bad about their mother because he didn’t want to upset them at a young age.
His wife continuously blamed him and Durand accepted everything so that his family wouldn’t ruin completely. However, the bad impression created by his wife about him continued even after her death. Durand asks Adèle to take care of her sisters especially Thérèse who is the youngest.
Then, Durand drinks from a glass. Durand asks Thérèse to find a place as a teacher for Annette, so that she can get up in the world and into good company. Durand asks Thérèse to save family papers which he has kept in the top drawer of his chiffonier (शिफोनियर) in the middle room. Then, he gives the key and asks to save the fire insurance papers.
After that, smoke is seen coming its way through the ceiling. Durand requests his daughter not to tell the very secret to her sisters. Then, Durand sits by the table. The smoke increases. Monsieur Durand drops his head in his hands on the table.
Adèle finds everything burning. Durand lifts his head, takes the water glass up, and puts it down with a meaningful gesture. Adèle finds that he has taken poison. Durand confirms her doubts by nodding his head. He asks about the insurance papers for the last time and he dies.
