Mr. Y monologue — Plays by August Strindberg: Creditors. Pariah.

I think you'll have to admit that there is both logic and wisdom in the argument I'm now going to give you. You have suffered a misfortune which might have brought you two years at hard labor. You have completely escaped the disgrace of being punished. And here you see before you a man--who has also suffered a misfortune--the victim of an unconscious impulse--and who has had to stand two years of hard labor for it. Only by some great scientific achievement can this man wipe off the taint that has become attached to him without any fault of his own--but in order to arrive at some such achievement, he must have money--a lot of money--and money this minute! Don't you think that the other one, the unpunished one, would bring a little better balance into these unequal human conditions if he paid a penalty in the form of a fine? Don't you think so?