11. Reigen
box 19/1
14
complete without a study of his works. A consid¬
eration of his reputation is material and relevant.
In arriving at its decision, the Court of Appeals
gave due weightto Gautier’s reputatien in the case
involving Mademoiselle De Maupin (Halscy v. N. V.
Society, 234 N. Y. 1).
Critics have hailed many of Dr. Schnitzler’s
books as modern classics.
Dr. Otto P. Schinnerer, Professor of German Lit¬
erature in Columbia University, has said:
" In Reigen Schnitzler is exclusively interested
in analyzing the psychological reactions of his
characters before and after the gratification of
their desires, and never in their physiological
experiences. The Reigen scenes are a ruthless
unmasking of the animal instincts in man
which often parade under the guise of friend¬
ship and love. Reigen is on every count supe¬
rior to Andtol (another work of Schnitzler
which is universally considered inoffensive and
which has been published in the Modern Li¬
brary in this country without interference),
both as a work of art and in its unerring ob¬
servation and its almost canny dissection of
human motives. In writing the work Schnitz¬
ler simply obeyed the dictates of his artistie
conscience, without ulterior motives.?'
Felix Hollander, eminent German author and
playwright, formerly director of Deutsches Theater,
and the Kommerspiele, and of Grosses Schauspiel¬
haus in Berlin, stated, during the trial of“ Reigen'
in 1922 for obscenity,
“1 do not hesitate to declare that I look upon
Reigen as an extraordinary work of art.?
Dr. Ludwig Fulda, one of the outstanding German
dramatists of the present day, said at the same
time,