Arthur Schnitzler
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Arthur Schnitzler (May 15, 1862 - October 21, 1931) was an Austrian writer and doctor.
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Biography
Schnitzler was born in Vienna and began studying medicine at the University of Vienna in 1879. He received his doctorate of medicine in 1885 and worked in Vienna's General Hospital, but ultimately abandoned medicine in favor 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") as well as for their strong stand against anti-Semitism. Schnitzler was branded as a pornographer after the release of his play Reigen, and his works were later cited as an example of "Jewish filth" by Adolf Hitler.
Despite his seriousness of purpose, Schnitzler frequently approaches the bedroom farce in his plays. Professor Bernhardi, a comedy about a Jewish doctor who turns away a Catholic priest, 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 societal conventions. With his 1900 short story "Lietenant Gustl," he was the first to write German fiction in stream-of-consciousness narration. He specialized in shorter works like novellas and one-act plays, and in short short stories like "The Green Tie" (Die grüne Krawatte) he showed himself to be one of the early masters of microfiction.
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 casual descriptions of sexual conquests — he was often in relationships with several women at once, and for a period of years he kept a record of every orgasm. Collections of Schnitzler's letters have also been published.
Selected works
Plays
- Anatol (1893)
- Flirtation (Liebelei - 1895) a.k.a. The Reckoning, which was made into a film by Max Ophüls and adapted as Dalliance by British playwright Tom Stoppard.
- Fair Game (Freiwild - 1896)
- Hands Around (Reigen - 1900), also called La Ronde, is still frequently presented. Max Ophüls directed the first movie adaptation of the play in 1950, and Roger Vadim directed a second version in 1964.
- Paracelsus (1899)
- The Green Cockatoo (Der grüne Kakadu - 1899)
- The Lonely Way (Der einsame Weg - 1904)
- Countess Mizzi (Komtesse Mizzi oder Der Familientag - 1909)
- Young Medardus (Der junge Medardus - 1910)
- The Vast Domain (Das weite Land - 1911), adapted as Undiscovered Country by Tom Stoppard.
- Professor Bernhardi (1912)
- The Comedy of Seduction (Komödie der Verführung - 1924)
Novels
- The Road Into the Open (Der Weg ins Freie - 1908)
- Therese. Chronik eines Frauenlebens (1928)
Short stories and novellas
- Dying (Sterben - 1895)
- Lieutenant Gustl (Leutnant Gustl - 1900)
- Berta Garlan (1900)
- Blind Geronimo and his Brother (Der blinde Geronimo und sein Bruder - 1902)
- The Prophecy (Die Weissagung - 1905)
- Casanova's Homecoming (Casanovas Heimfahrt - 1918)
- Fräulein Else (1924)
- Dream Story (Traumnovelle - 1925/26), later adapted as the film Eyes Wide Shut by American director Stanley Kubrick)
- Night Games (Spiel im Morgengrauen - 1926)
- Flight into Darkness (Flucht in die Finsternis - 1931)
Nonfiction
- Youth in Vienna (Jugend in Wien), an autobiography published posthumously in 1968
- Diary, 1879-1931
External links
- "Who Is Arthur Schnitzler?" article at Slate (http://slate.msn.com/id/1003245/)
- Literary Encylopedia: Arthur Schnitzler (http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5412)de:Arthur Schnitzler
eo:Arthur SCHNITZLER it:Arthur Schnitzler nl:Arthur Schnitzler he:ארתור שניצלר ja:アルトゥル・シュニッツラー