_Jean_, though the male is aroused in him, pleads with _Julie_ not to play with fire, begs her to return to her room, and not to give the servants a chance for gossip. And when later _Jean_ suggests his room for a hiding place that _Julie_ may escape the approaching merry-makers, it is to save her from their songs full of insinuation and ribaldry. Finally when the inevitable happens, when as a result of their closeness in _Jean's_ room, of their overwrought nerves, their intense passion, the avalanche of sex sweeps them off their feet, forgetful of station, birth and conventions, and they return to the kitchen, it is again _Jean_ who is willing to bear his share of the responsibility. "I don't care to shirk my share of the blame," he tells _Julie_, "but do you think any one of my position would have dared to raise his eyes to you if you had not invited it?" There is more truth in this statement than the Julies can grasp, namely, that even servants have their passions and feelings that cannot long be trifled with, with impunity. The Jeans know "that it is the glitter of brass, not gold, that dazzles us from below, and that the eagle's back is gray like the rest of him." For _Jean_ says, "I'm sorry to have to realize that all that I have looked up to is not worth while, and it pains me to see you fallen lower than your cook, as it pains me to see autumn blossoms whipped to pieces by the cold rain and transformed into--dirt!" * * * * * It is this force that helps to transform the blossom into dirt that August Strindberg emphasizes in "The Father." For the child born against the will of its parents must also be without will, and too weak to bear the stress and storm of life. In "Countess Julie" this idea recurs with even more tragic effect. _Julie_, too, had been brought into the world against her mother's wishes. Indeed, so much did her mother dread the thought of a child that she "was always ill, she often had cramps and acted queerly, often hiding in the orchard or the attic." Added to this horror was the conflict, the relentless war of traditions between _Julie's_ aristocratic father and her mother descended from the people. This was the heritage of the innocent victim, _Julie_--an autumn blossom blown into fragments by lack of stability, lack of love and lack of harmony. In other words, while _Julie_ is broken and weakened by her inheritance and environment, _Jean_ is hardened by his.