The Inferno

The Inferno is a novel published by Swedish playwright August Strindberg in 1882. It tells the story of a modern day plague that has descended on humanity and, as was the case with many of Strindberg's works, it serves as a critique of social issues. The plot revolves around an unnamed young woman who loses her husband to the plague and her subsequent reactions to this event and her life as she knows it. A new plague descends upon society: every man, woman, and child becomes possessed with an inexorable desire to kill one another. Humans are no longer conscious of what they do; they merely act on instinct or by rote in their everyday lives. In this society, there are those who are spared from.