The Isle of the Blessed originally formed part of Strindberg's collection of short stories entitled Svenska den och ventyr (Swedish Destinies and Adventures). It relates the story of how the survivors of a ship-wrecked passenger vessel sailing to a former Swedish colony in North America are forced to start a new life on a sub-tropical island. It is a highly entertaining and humorous account of how the new society develops, and an astute satire of many aspects of European social life. Strindberg criticises in particular religion, education, the legal system and the arts.