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In this book, Cullberg examines the severe psychic crises of two Swedish writers, Strindberg and Dagerman.
Several psychiatrists have diagnosed Strindberg as a schizophrenic. Some literary critics, however, have considered that Strindberg was not so ill after all, but that he purposefully experimented with pressing his experiences to the utmost in order to obtain new inspiration. The most fascinating chapters in the book describe Strindberg's stay in Paris in 1896. Strindberg was then paranoid and convinced that he was the victim of systematic persecution, aimed at driving him mad or into suicide. Coughs and knocking sounds from the neighbour were taken as signals that he was under observation. Now and then, he felt that on the other side of the wall, some electrical machine was installed that influenced him. He also felt the taste of poison in his mouth and thought that this had filtered through the wall from the neighbouring apartment. He was aware that people considered him paranoid but, again, he considered their concern to be another way of driving him mad.
During the same period, his creativity came to a stop, but he was intensely preoccupied with alchemy, and sometimes convinced that he was about to influence the whole science of chemistry, and that he had invented a method to produce gold.
This phase was succeeded by a religious period where his ideal was the mysticism of Swedenborg. Seemingly, however, this period was the decisive step towards psychical reintegration. He recovered his ability to write and subsequently created a number of scenic dramas, among these ‘Ettdrömspel’ (A Dream-Play). Cullberg concludes that Strindberg had survived the crisis but that fundamentally he was the same person as before.