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Vienna 1900
Mother and son.--The man of honour.--A confirmed bachelor.--The spring sonata.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Arthur Schnitzler
1,050 books554 followersArthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.
The son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter (a daughter of the Viennese doctor Philipp Markbreiter), was born in Vienna in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and began studying medicine at the local university in 1879. He received his doctorate of medicine in 1885 and worked at the Vienna's General Hospital, but ultimately abandoned medicine in favour of writing.
His works were often controversial, both for their frank description of sexuality (Sigmund Freud, in a letter to Schnitzler, confessed "I have gained the impression that you have learned through intuition — though actually as a result of sensitive introspection — everything that I have had to unearth by laborious work on other persons")[1] and for their strong stand against anti-Semitism, represented by works such as his play Professor Bernhardi and the novel Der Weg ins Freie. However, though Schnitzler was himself Jewish, Professor Bernhardi and Fräulein Else are among the few clearly-identified Jewish protagonists in his work.
Schnitzler was branded as a pornographer after the release of his play Reigen, in which ten pairs of characters are shown before and after the sexual act, leading and ending with a prostitute. The furore after this play was couched in the strongest anti-semitic terms;[2] his works would later be cited as "Jewish filth" by Adolf Hitler. Reigen was made into a French language film in 1950 by the German-born director Max Ophüls as La Ronde. The film achieved considerable success in the English-speaking world, with the result that Schnitzler's play is better known there under Ophüls' French title.
In the novella, Fräulein Else (1924), Schnitzler may be rebutting a contentious critique of the Jewish character by Otto Weininger (1903) by positioning the sexuality of the young female Jewish protagonist.[3] The story, a first-person stream of consciousness narrative by a young aristocratic woman, reveals a moral dilemma that ends in tragedy.
In response to an interviewer who asked Schnitzler what he thought about the critical view that his works all seemed to treat the same subjects, he replied, "I write of love and death. What other subjects are there?" Despite his seriousness of purpose, Schnitzler frequently approaches the bedroom farce in his plays (and had an affair with one of his actresses, Adele Sandrock). Professor Bernhardi, a play about a Jewish doctor who turns away a Catholic priest in order to spare a patient the realization that she is on the point of death, is his only major dramatic work without a sexual theme.
A member of the avant-garde group Young Vienna (Jung Wien), Schnitzler toyed with formal as well as social conventions. With his 1900 short story Lieutenant Gustl, he was the first to write German fiction in stream-of-consciousness narration. The story is an unflattering portrait of its protagonist and of the army's obsessive code of formal honour. It caused Schnitzler to be stripped of his commission as a reserve officer in the medical corps — something that should be seen against the rising tide of anti-semitism of the time.
He specialized in shorter works like novellas and one-act plays. And in his short stories like "The Green Tie" ("Die grüne Krawatte") he showed himself to be one of the early masters of microfiction. However he also wrote two full-length novels: Der Weg ins Freie about a talented but not very motivated young composer, a brilliant description of a segment of pre-World War I Viennese society; and the artistically less satisfactory Therese.
In addition to his plays and fiction, Schnitzler meticulously kept a diary from the age of 17 until two days before his death, of a brain hemorrhage in Vienna. The manuscript, which runs to almost 8,000 pages, is most notable for Schnitzler's cas
The son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter (a daughter of the Viennese doctor Philipp Markbreiter), was born in Vienna in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and began studying medicine at the local university in 1879. He received his doctorate of medicine in 1885 and worked at the Vienna's General Hospital, but ultimately abandoned medicine in favour of writing.
His works were often controversial, both for their frank description of sexuality (Sigmund Freud, in a letter to Schnitzler, confessed "I have gained the impression that you have learned through intuition — though actually as a result of sensitive introspection — everything that I have had to unearth by laborious work on other persons")[1] and for their strong stand against anti-Semitism, represented by works such as his play Professor Bernhardi and the novel Der Weg ins Freie. However, though Schnitzler was himself Jewish, Professor Bernhardi and Fräulein Else are among the few clearly-identified Jewish protagonists in his work.
Schnitzler was branded as a pornographer after the release of his play Reigen, in which ten pairs of characters are shown before and after the sexual act, leading and ending with a prostitute. The furore after this play was couched in the strongest anti-semitic terms;[2] his works would later be cited as "Jewish filth" by Adolf Hitler. Reigen was made into a French language film in 1950 by the German-born director Max Ophüls as La Ronde. The film achieved considerable success in the English-speaking world, with the result that Schnitzler's play is better known there under Ophüls' French title.
In the novella, Fräulein Else (1924), Schnitzler may be rebutting a contentious critique of the Jewish character by Otto Weininger (1903) by positioning the sexuality of the young female Jewish protagonist.[3] The story, a first-person stream of consciousness narrative by a young aristocratic woman, reveals a moral dilemma that ends in tragedy.
In response to an interviewer who asked Schnitzler what he thought about the critical view that his works all seemed to treat the same subjects, he replied, "I write of love and death. What other subjects are there?" Despite his seriousness of purpose, Schnitzler frequently approaches the bedroom farce in his plays (and had an affair with one of his actresses, Adele Sandrock). Professor Bernhardi, a play about a Jewish doctor who turns away a Catholic priest in order to spare a patient the realization that she is on the point of death, is his only major dramatic work without a sexual theme.
A member of the avant-garde group Young Vienna (Jung Wien), Schnitzler toyed with formal as well as social conventions. With his 1900 short story Lieutenant Gustl, he was the first to write German fiction in stream-of-consciousness narration. The story is an unflattering portrait of its protagonist and of the army's obsessive code of formal honour. It caused Schnitzler to be stripped of his commission as a reserve officer in the medical corps — something that should be seen against the rising tide of anti-semitism of the time.
He specialized in shorter works like novellas and one-act plays. And in his short stories like "The Green Tie" ("Die grüne Krawatte") he showed himself to be one of the early masters of microfiction. However he also wrote two full-length novels: Der Weg ins Freie about a talented but not very motivated young composer, a brilliant description of a segment of pre-World War I Viennese society; and the artistically less satisfactory Therese.
In addition to his plays and fiction, Schnitzler meticulously kept a diary from the age of 17 until two days before his death, of a brain hemorrhage in Vienna. The manuscript, which runs to almost 8,000 pages, is most notable for Schnitzler's cas
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 9, 2016
I was just very glad to find a copy of some other works by Schnitzler besides the Penguin 'Dream
Story'. I like these novellas very much though the presentation is a bit annoying-- they retitled three out of four of Schnitzler's stories to tie in to an Enlgish TV series made in the 70s adapting these stories under the title 'Vienna 1900: Games with Love and Death' (maybe a good series, but still, a bit presumptuous in literary terms-- I don't think Schnitzler would have used a subheading that overt, either). And though the writing is strong, I kind of think a more subtle translation might be possible than these ones, perhaps done a bit indifferently by the translators at the time (the 1920s, it appears). Still, Schnitzler is a greatly underrated writer, I feel, and these stories have the same fascinating collision of bourgeois morality and deadly passions as 'Dream Story'.
Story'. I like these novellas very much though the presentation is a bit annoying-- they retitled three out of four of Schnitzler's stories to tie in to an Enlgish TV series made in the 70s adapting these stories under the title 'Vienna 1900: Games with Love and Death' (maybe a good series, but still, a bit presumptuous in literary terms-- I don't think Schnitzler would have used a subheading that overt, either). And though the writing is strong, I kind of think a more subtle translation might be possible than these ones, perhaps done a bit indifferently by the translators at the time (the 1920s, it appears). Still, Schnitzler is a greatly underrated writer, I feel, and these stories have the same fascinating collision of bourgeois morality and deadly passions as 'Dream Story'.
April 30, 2022
I am reviewing this collection of stories by Arthur Schnitzler which I discovered at a used book outlet despite the fact that few GR readers will ever in a position to lay their hands in a copy. It was published in 1974 to coincide with the airing of BBC television of the same name that presented film versions of the stories. There exists in other words no reason to ever re-release the book. However, selection was inspired and gives the reader an excellent overview of Schnitzler's prose fiction.
The collection is much better than the sum of its parts. All four tales are flawed. Together they brilliantly present the world view of Arthur Schnitzler the notoriously cynical and blasé libertine commonly held to exemplify the decadence of "Fin-de-Siècle" Vienna. (I personally feel that it is Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehar better represent the era but there is a large camp who feel that Schnitzler is the true personification of the era).
Schnitzler appears to believe that the only crime in the arena and sex is to allow one's philandering to be exposed to public view. There is no crime in anything that is successfully concealed. Schindler's characters see no virtue in marital fidelity. They consider it normal that individuals who have more power in society due to position or wealth are entitled to take advantage sexually of those with less power. The less powerful should accept the treatment administered to them with good grace.
"Mother and Son", the first story, contains a brilliant psychological portrait of a widow determined to prevent her only son from being seduced by an actress of her age and refuses to accept the argument of the actress that such an affair if it were to occur would be a valuable educational experience for the young man. Unfortunately, Schnitzler destroys the whole story with a melodramatic and highly improbable conclusion.
"The Man of Honour", the second story, relates how an ambitious self-server disposes of his lower class mistress in order to enter into an advantageous relationship. The ending is once again botched. An outraged bystander decides to challenge the Lothario protagonist to a duel in which he kills the unpleasant villain.
The third story, "A Confirmed Bachelor" is outstanding. The main character is a Doctor who has an easy time attracting women and then disposing of them when they demand commitment. He simply does not care about other people and feels no remorse about his selfishness. He is unable to grieve even his loving sister. In this case, Schnitzler has the right plot for this protagonist and brings the tale to a logical if not dramatic conclusion.
"The Spring Sonata", the fourth and final tale is a masterpiece. Bertha, the protagonist is a widow whose youth is rapidly drawing to a close. She lives in a provincial town and becomes curious about the romance life of a friend who makes frequent trips to Vienna. Bertha accepts the invitation of the woman that she suspects of adultery to accompany her to Vienna on one of her weekend outings. In Vienna, Bertha meets a man that she had been in love with prior to her marriage and promptly goes to bed with him. Her lover than imposes harsh and humiliating conditions. Bertha can have only one rendezvous every six weeks and can never be seen with him in any public venue. Bertha is momentarily outraged but when her friend who had travelled with her to Vienna dies tragically, she forgets her own emotional hurts putting her energy into her grief and into providing emotional support to the heartbroken widower.
The collection is much better than the sum of its parts. All four tales are flawed. Together they brilliantly present the world view of Arthur Schnitzler the notoriously cynical and blasé libertine commonly held to exemplify the decadence of "Fin-de-Siècle" Vienna. (I personally feel that it is Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehar better represent the era but there is a large camp who feel that Schnitzler is the true personification of the era).
Schnitzler appears to believe that the only crime in the arena and sex is to allow one's philandering to be exposed to public view. There is no crime in anything that is successfully concealed. Schindler's characters see no virtue in marital fidelity. They consider it normal that individuals who have more power in society due to position or wealth are entitled to take advantage sexually of those with less power. The less powerful should accept the treatment administered to them with good grace.
"Mother and Son", the first story, contains a brilliant psychological portrait of a widow determined to prevent her only son from being seduced by an actress of her age and refuses to accept the argument of the actress that such an affair if it were to occur would be a valuable educational experience for the young man. Unfortunately, Schnitzler destroys the whole story with a melodramatic and highly improbable conclusion.
"The Man of Honour", the second story, relates how an ambitious self-server disposes of his lower class mistress in order to enter into an advantageous relationship. The ending is once again botched. An outraged bystander decides to challenge the Lothario protagonist to a duel in which he kills the unpleasant villain.
The third story, "A Confirmed Bachelor" is outstanding. The main character is a Doctor who has an easy time attracting women and then disposing of them when they demand commitment. He simply does not care about other people and feels no remorse about his selfishness. He is unable to grieve even his loving sister. In this case, Schnitzler has the right plot for this protagonist and brings the tale to a logical if not dramatic conclusion.
"The Spring Sonata", the fourth and final tale is a masterpiece. Bertha, the protagonist is a widow whose youth is rapidly drawing to a close. She lives in a provincial town and becomes curious about the romance life of a friend who makes frequent trips to Vienna. Bertha accepts the invitation of the woman that she suspects of adultery to accompany her to Vienna on one of her weekend outings. In Vienna, Bertha meets a man that she had been in love with prior to her marriage and promptly goes to bed with him. Her lover than imposes harsh and humiliating conditions. Bertha can have only one rendezvous every six weeks and can never be seen with him in any public venue. Bertha is momentarily outraged but when her friend who had travelled with her to Vienna dies tragically, she forgets her own emotional hurts putting her energy into her grief and into providing emotional support to the heartbroken widower.
November 20, 2024
Curious fin-de-siècle tales of complex relationships.
November 21, 2017
Mother and Son (Frau Beate und ihr Sohn - 1913; Agnes Jacques, translator) - Beatrice tries to prevent her son from having an affair with a older, promiscuous married woman; she fails and herself takes a friend of her son as a lover. Disappointing and overly melodramatic ending. Excellent handling of point of view.
A Man of Honor (Der Mörder - 1910; Eric Sutton) - A very weak story, predictable and not psychologically insightful. The English title is evidently meant to be ironic, but there is no "honor" in the story to give point to the irony.
A Confirmed Bachelor (Doktor Gräsler, Badearzt - 1917; E. C. Slade) Another English title with a misplaced sense of irony, but a much better story. After his companion sister's suicide, 48-year-old Dr. Graesler dithers between two younger women, the well bred frigid Sabine and the middle-class sexually available Katharina.
The Spring Sonata (Frau Bertha Garlan 1901; J. H. Wisdom, Marr Murray) The longest of the quartet, fortunately also the best. A young widow with a three-year-old son contacts her youthful beau, now an acclaimed Viennese violinist. An excellent portrait of a small Austrian town and its inhabitants.
A Man of Honor (Der Mörder - 1910; Eric Sutton) - A very weak story, predictable and not psychologically insightful. The English title is evidently meant to be ironic, but there is no "honor" in the story to give point to the irony.
A Confirmed Bachelor (Doktor Gräsler, Badearzt - 1917; E. C. Slade) Another English title with a misplaced sense of irony, but a much better story. After his companion sister's suicide, 48-year-old Dr. Graesler dithers between two younger women, the well bred frigid Sabine and the middle-class sexually available Katharina.
The Spring Sonata (Frau Bertha Garlan 1901; J. H. Wisdom, Marr Murray) The longest of the quartet, fortunately also the best. A young widow with a three-year-old son contacts her youthful beau, now an acclaimed Viennese violinist. An excellent portrait of a small Austrian town and its inhabitants.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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