In writing The Son of a Servant in 1886 August Strindberg ventured upon an autobiographical project that would occupy him for more than twenty years. The first three volumes were published in rapid succession. The fourth did not come out until 1909, now accompanied by a preface in which Strindberg reviewed his writings to date, including several volumes with himself as the main subject. In the meantime he had written about two marriages (He and She and A Madman's Defence, which relate to his marriage with Siri von Essen, and the 'The Quarantine Master's Second Story' (ultimately The Cloister) depicting his relationship with Frida Uhl), about his religious conversion (Inferno and Legends) and about the single life that he was anticipating at the end of his third marriage (Alone). Together with his letters and his Occult Diary this sequence of works constitutes the body of writings which he identified on several occasions as forming his autobiographical oeuvre.

For more than a quarter of a century Strindberg was engaged with questions concerning self-representation. He published several versions of his own story seen from different points of view (matrimonial, theological, political, etc.), rather than one singular and authoritative version. The many revaluations and supplements prevent the single text from being a closed and complete work of art. And by claiming in his 1909 preface that 'the author was not finished in 1886; maybe he did not even begin until then and thus, being but a fragment, the present book is only of secondary interest', Strindberg reduced the earliest works in the series to mere drafts.