What do you think?
Rate this book
Leutnant Gustl/Fraulein Else
Bei einem Konzert wird Leutnant Gustl von einem Bäckermeister beleidigt und beschließt, da er weder mit der "Schande" der Beleidigung leben noch sich mit einem Handwerker duellieren kann, am nächsten Tag Selbstmord zu begehen. Diese äußere Handlung der Novelle erschließt sich dem Leser ausschließlich aus den Gedanken der Hauptfigur und ihren Reaktionen auf das äußere Geschehen. Mittels dieser subjektiven Sichtweise enthüllt der Text deutlich die Absurdität des militärischen Ehrenkodex', der das Leben des Leutnants bestimmt. "Leutnant Gustl" gehört zu den ersten Werken der deutschen Literatur, in denen das Stilmittel des Inneren Monologs konsequent durchgeführt ist. Die gleiche Erzähltechnik verwendet Schnitzler in "Fräulein Else". Hier verfolgt der Leser, wie sich ein Gewissenskonflikt einer jungen Frau allmählich so weit steigert, dass er mit ihrem Tod endet.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1924
7 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Schnitzler
1,038 books552 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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 25, 2025
Nachtrag
June 4, 2020
Although these two novellas by Arthur Schnitzler have been written almost 20 years apart (to my knowledge), they share a common theme: the possible ramification of inner chatter. Fräulein Else as well as Leutnant Gusto find themselves in seemingly hopeless situations, in which whatever action they take they will ultimately - so it appears to them - have to face public ridicule and societal downfall. The only way out is suicide. By taking their own lives, they will protect their honour and not bring shame on themselves and their families.
From the reader's perspective, it seems obvious that either situation is not genuinely hopeless but only appears to be so through the protagonists' skewed lenses. Both of them lack awareness that their own cognitive processes are guided by the compulsive need to fit a certain role in society and the anxiety of failing to do so. The prospect of publicly behaving in a way that is not deemed to be appropriate and that exposes their faults seems worse than suicide.
Interestingly, both protagonists mention that committing suicide will be entirely their own decision and is in their own control. For the reader, however, it seems neither of them is in any control whatsoever. They are driven by their own intrusive and repetitive thoughts.
Naturally, both novellas have to be understood in the context of Schnitzler's time and his contribution to literature. I am certainly not a historian nor an expert on literature, but from what I understand he was one of the first authors to use the so-called "inner consciousness", a literary method trying to depict all elements of a protagonist's thought process as they come. This method very much illustrates the repetitive and circular way in which thoughts and feelings can behave and seems to give an accurate account of the protagonists' inner chatter.
Although, society has significantly changed over the past 100 years and one would be unlikely to find themselves in exactly the same situations as Fräulein Else or Leutnant Gusto (at least not in Western society), the theme of needing to play a certain role and not losing one's face in the public eye is still a common one. Especially during times of social media, it seems to have immense importance to cit a certain image and publicly portray oneself in the best possible light. This shows the timeless value and great significance of Schnitzler's work.
From the reader's perspective, it seems obvious that either situation is not genuinely hopeless but only appears to be so through the protagonists' skewed lenses. Both of them lack awareness that their own cognitive processes are guided by the compulsive need to fit a certain role in society and the anxiety of failing to do so. The prospect of publicly behaving in a way that is not deemed to be appropriate and that exposes their faults seems worse than suicide.
Interestingly, both protagonists mention that committing suicide will be entirely their own decision and is in their own control. For the reader, however, it seems neither of them is in any control whatsoever. They are driven by their own intrusive and repetitive thoughts.
Naturally, both novellas have to be understood in the context of Schnitzler's time and his contribution to literature. I am certainly not a historian nor an expert on literature, but from what I understand he was one of the first authors to use the so-called "inner consciousness", a literary method trying to depict all elements of a protagonist's thought process as they come. This method very much illustrates the repetitive and circular way in which thoughts and feelings can behave and seems to give an accurate account of the protagonists' inner chatter.
Although, society has significantly changed over the past 100 years and one would be unlikely to find themselves in exactly the same situations as Fräulein Else or Leutnant Gusto (at least not in Western society), the theme of needing to play a certain role and not losing one's face in the public eye is still a common one. Especially during times of social media, it seems to have immense importance to cit a certain image and publicly portray oneself in the best possible light. This shows the timeless value and great significance of Schnitzler's work.
April 24, 2019
I cannot imagine two better examples of "stream of consciousness" writing than these two brilliant novellas. I prefer the German term Innerer Monolog (inner or internal monologue), which is at once a definition and a description of the technique.
In these two unrelated stories, the main characters each confront a serious crisis in their lives. By allowing us to "read their minds" Arthur Schnitzler lets the reader identify and even "suffer" with them personally.
In these two unrelated stories, the main characters each confront a serious crisis in their lives. By allowing us to "read their minds" Arthur Schnitzler lets the reader identify and even "suffer" with them personally.
November 29, 2024
Interessanter Einblick in die Psyche
July 13, 2023
Leutnant Gustl habe ich in der Schule gelesen und es war eines meiner Lieblingslektüren und daher hatte ich Lust es wieder zu lesen. Das zweite Werk dieses Buches kannte ich nicht, gefiel mir jedoch auch sehr. Schnitzler guter Mann.
December 28, 2017
Leutnant Gustl: 3 Sterne
Fräulein Else: 4 Sterne
Fräulein Else: 4 Sterne
January 2, 2025
you’re telling me he ran around vienna for a whole night planning to kill himself cause someone touched is sword?
August 7, 2022
Más que interesantes estos dos relatos sustentados ambos en un constante monólogo interior de sus protagonistas. En uno nos encontramos a un teniente que ha sido insultado por un 'don nadie' (un panadero) y, ante tal deshonra y la posibilidad de que todo el mundo se entere de ella, solo atisba una solución: el suicidio. En el otro nos metemos en la mente de una jovencita de la alta sociedad que se encontrará ante un gran dilema cuando deba obtener dinero para evitar que su padre vaya a la cárcel, y su único vía para obtenerlo proceda de un viejo verde que le pedirá algo humillante a cambio.
Creo que Schnitzler logra darle a ambos monólogos (flujos de conciencia) bastante veracidad, realismo. Por momentos son vertiginosos, caóticos, trastabillados... a tono con la crisis, las dudas y la histeria que inunda las mentes de los dos protagonistas.
Creo que Schnitzler logra darle a ambos monólogos (flujos de conciencia) bastante veracidad, realismo. Por momentos son vertiginosos, caóticos, trastabillados... a tono con la crisis, las dudas y la histeria que inunda las mentes de los dos protagonistas.
December 29, 2017
Pinhole into the society of the 1900 and its (weak) ideas of honor and moral
November 25, 2022
he was going through it
October 12, 2023
Leutnant Gustl 5/5
Fräulein Else 5/5
Fräulein Else 5/5
October 6, 2024
As an overthinker, can relate.
December 2, 2024
I would probs go crazy too
June 21, 2025
schnitzler monologe immer wieder was feines
February 1, 2026
Fräulein Else 5 stars
Leutnanl Gustl probably 4
No half stars on goodreads 👎
Leutnanl Gustl probably 4
No half stars on goodreads 👎
July 23, 2025
A rare good example for well a executed Stream of consciousness/innerer Monolog (engl. internal monologue); it's not too repetitive to be annoying, but just repetitive enough to depict the constant circle of thoughts, leading to the complete focus on one problem, completely disregarding other factors and people. Easy to read and understand, perfect portrayal of interesting stylistic writing and culturally important!
August 27, 2018
"Voglio essere una sgualdrina, non una puttana."
La Signorina Else ✅
La Signorina Else ✅
January 8, 2019
Interessante come “documento storico” di un tipo di letteratura che descriveva l’ideologia del tempo in Austria... noioso...
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews