Strindberg wrote The Pelican in 1907 as a revenge sonata against his beloved sister Anna, who tormented him with her abhorrent behavior during the time she stayed at his house to take care of him.

Here, the author, attributing to the mother of the play characteristics of his sister, forces her to reveal her true face and be humiliated in front of her children.

In the final scene, the mother and the children will undergo a relentless ordeal. Ultimately, the truth will shine through and the characters will awaken from their lethargy.

Through increasingly intense dialogues, they will reach the desired purification.