with the play itself. The prefaces urges naturalism and deterministic readings of the play, but the play seems to offer more anti-naturalism and even feminist readings. Strindberg's play may have other values than his own critical assessment. In the preface, Strindberg discusses aristocracy and classism beyond what occurs in the play itself. Naturalism Strindberg wrote this play with the intention of abiding by the theories of "naturalism"–both his own version, and also the version described by the French novelist and literary theoretician Émile Zola. Zola's term for naturalism is la nouvelle formule. The three primary principles of naturalism (faire vrai, faire grand and faire simple) are: Faire vrai: The play should be realistic and the result of a careful study of human behavior and psychology. The characters should be flesh and blood; their motivations and actions should be grounded in their heredity and environment. The presentation of the play in terms of the setting and performances should be realistic and not flamboyant or theatrical. The single setting of Miss Julie, for example, is a kitchen. Faire grand: The conflicts in the play should be issues of meaningful, life-altering significance–not small or petty. Faire simple: The play should be simple–not cluttered with complicated sub-plots or lengthy expositions. Strindberg believed that French playwrights had been unable to achieve naturalism in their writings, and he felt that he could. Miss Julie is not only successful as a naturalistic drama, but it is a play that has achieved the rare distinction of being performed on stages all over the world every year since it was written in 1888. Origins of the play The play was written as Strindberg was creating a new theatre of his own, the Scandinavian Naturalistic Theater, which would be founded in Copenhagen. Miss Julie would be the premier offering. Strindberg's wife, Siri von Essen, would star in the title role, and she would also be the artistic director. After Strindberg agreed to a small amount of censorship, the play was published a few weeks before the first production. (The first English translations also contain these censored excisions. For example, the first audiences were spared the shock of hearing Miss Julie, in an angry moment, compare making love to Jean to an act of bestiality.) With disastrous timing for new theater, the censors announced during the dress rehearsal that Miss Julie would be forbidden. However, Strindberg managed to get around the