The Girls (1968) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film takes place in Sweden, following a touring theater production of Lysistrata as it travels between different towns and theaters. The setting highlights the contrast between the public performance spaces and the private domestic lives of the actresses, capturing the lived experience of touring performers in 1960s Sweden.

• sweden
• setting
• location
• touring
• theaters

The movie is set in the 1960s, a decade of significant social change and evolving gender norms in Sweden. The time period is essential to the story as it frames the actresses' struggles with marriage, career, and independence within the broader cultural context of women's roles during that era.

• 1960s
• time period
• era
• 1960s sweden
• social change

The film centers on a touring theatrical production of Aristophanes' ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata, in which women withhold sex to end a war. This play serves as both the literal performance the three actresses present and a metaphorical framework for exploring themes of female solidarity and resistance to male authority.

• lysistrata
• play
• theater
• production
• greek comedy

The film examines how three actresses challenge traditional expectations of wifehood and motherhood while seeking control over their careers and lives. The Lysistrata production becomes a platform to critique male authority and assert female solidarity, presenting the obstacles women face when pursuing autonomy in a patriarchal society.

• feminism
• women's autonomy
• gender roles
• female solidarity
• marriage

Each woman in the film bears maternal responsibilities that complicate their touring life, from arranging childcare for toddlers to dealing with distance from their children. The film emphasizes the emotional labor of balancing home life with a demanding artistic career, highlighting the tension between family duties and personal ambition.

• motherhood
• children
• childcare
• family
• working mothers

The film explores the blurred line between art and life as the actresses attempt to translate the political ideas of Lysistrata into public discourse. It examines how theater can provoke thought but not guarantee transformation, highlighting the tension between staging a radical work and actually living its principles in daily life.

• theater
• performance
• art vs life
• stage
• audience

The three lead characters are Liz (played by Bibi Andersson), Marianne (played by Harriet Andersson), and Gunilla (played by Gunnel Lindblom). They portray the characters Lysistrata, Myrrhine, and Kalonike in the touring Lysistrata production. Supporting characters include Liz's husband Bengt and Marianne's lover.

• characters
• cast
• actresses
• bibi andersson
• harriet andersson
• gunnel lindblom

Liz, played by Bibi Andersson, is one of the three actresses touring with the Lysistrata production. She faces a troubled home life due to her husband Bengt's affair and pressure for her to leave him. Liz is determined to discuss the play's meaning with audiences and challenge them to engage with women's issues, representing a woman asserting her own needs.

• liz
• bibi andersson
• husband
• marriage
• lysistrata

Marianne, played by Harriet Andersson, has left her married boyfriend and struggles with leaving her toddler with babysitters while on tour. Her central challenge is balancing the demands of her professional career with her responsibilities as a mother, while also navigating romantic relationships outside conventional marriage.

• marianne
• harriet andersson
• motherhood
• toddler
• lover

Gunilla, played by Gunnel Lindblom, is a mother of four whose husband urges her to stay home to care for the children, complicating her participation in the tour. Her situation embodies the tension between family duties and artistic ambition, adding depth to the group's discussions about gender roles and the pursuit of independence.

• gunilla
• gunnel lindblom
• mother of four
• husband
• family duties

Bengt, played by Åke Lindström, is Liz's husband who is having an affair and presses Liz to leave him. He represents the traditional male viewpoint that a wife's career should take precedence over her husband's needs. His presence underscores the marital conflicts that drive Liz to seek personal autonomy and ultimately pursue a divorce.

• bengt
• husband
• affair
• marriage
• liz's husband

The film has a primarily melancholic tone due to themes of frustration with unresponsive audiences and unsupportive partners. The ending is bittersweet: while the characters return home feeling that no one is willing to change, they have grown personally. Liz's decisive act of seeking a divorce represents a painful but necessary liberation, suggesting hope for individual transformation even if society remains stagnant.

• tone
• ending
• bittersweet
• melancholy
• emotional
• divorce