—
box 36/6
Pamphlets, offprints
The Germanic Revien
192
diesem Fall ein Arzt, ein Priester oder ein Philosoph zu so
verantwortlichem Amt berufen gewesen wäre“ (p. Zo1f.).
It is not our intention to maintain that Schnitzler here identifies
himself with the prosecuting attorney; we merely wished to
point out the great difference in the concluding sentences of the
two versions.
Two dialogs, resembling in a general way the Anatol scenes,
were also written in these years. The first of these,“ Halb
Zwei,' in addition foreshadows the scenes in Reigen in that we
find here the same characteristic reactions of the male and the
female after the gratification of their libido: the woman becomes
more amorous whereas the man's interest subsides. In this
playlet the lover and his mistress awake from a slight slumber
at half past one in the morning. The lover wants to go home
as he has to get up again at eight to go to work. She resents
this, although she disclaims any desire to detain him. She
accuses him of being a" förmlicher Langschläfer, an egotist,
etc. He is constantly on the defensive. Finally he agrees to
meet her at six the next evening and promises not to desert
her again so early. As he gets outside he vows to himself:
Der Teufel soll mich holen, wenn ich morgen um eine Minute
später als Mitternacht weggehe. (Er erinnert sich eben, daß er
das die letzten vier Wochen allnächtlich auf derselben Stelle
zwischen drei und sechs Uhr morgens gesagt hat und spaziert
The situation is conceived with keen
lächelnd weiter.).
humor and the sparkling, witty dialog can be favorably com¬
pared with that in Anatol.
In Die überspannte Person.'’ the second of these dialogs,
the lover has an affair with a# trried woman, as in the Anatol
scene Agonie' and in the short story Ein Abschied. She
meets him in his Absteigequartier,“ seems rather crestfallen
and finally confesses to him that she is with child. Since she
has had no relations with her husband, out of loyalty to her
lover, she is in a dilemma. She naturally expects that her lover
will not desert her. The latter, however, stresses his lack of
financial independence and hints at an abortion. When she
flatly rejects this, he self-sacrificingly intimates that she should
make advances to her husband—not for an extended honey¬
S
Kdahar
box 36/6
Pamphlets, offprints
The Germanic Revien
192
diesem Fall ein Arzt, ein Priester oder ein Philosoph zu so
verantwortlichem Amt berufen gewesen wäre“ (p. Zo1f.).
It is not our intention to maintain that Schnitzler here identifies
himself with the prosecuting attorney; we merely wished to
point out the great difference in the concluding sentences of the
two versions.
Two dialogs, resembling in a general way the Anatol scenes,
were also written in these years. The first of these,“ Halb
Zwei,' in addition foreshadows the scenes in Reigen in that we
find here the same characteristic reactions of the male and the
female after the gratification of their libido: the woman becomes
more amorous whereas the man's interest subsides. In this
playlet the lover and his mistress awake from a slight slumber
at half past one in the morning. The lover wants to go home
as he has to get up again at eight to go to work. She resents
this, although she disclaims any desire to detain him. She
accuses him of being a" förmlicher Langschläfer, an egotist,
etc. He is constantly on the defensive. Finally he agrees to
meet her at six the next evening and promises not to desert
her again so early. As he gets outside he vows to himself:
Der Teufel soll mich holen, wenn ich morgen um eine Minute
später als Mitternacht weggehe. (Er erinnert sich eben, daß er
das die letzten vier Wochen allnächtlich auf derselben Stelle
zwischen drei und sechs Uhr morgens gesagt hat und spaziert
The situation is conceived with keen
lächelnd weiter.).
humor and the sparkling, witty dialog can be favorably com¬
pared with that in Anatol.
In Die überspannte Person.'’ the second of these dialogs,
the lover has an affair with a# trried woman, as in the Anatol
scene Agonie' and in the short story Ein Abschied. She
meets him in his Absteigequartier,“ seems rather crestfallen
and finally confesses to him that she is with child. Since she
has had no relations with her husband, out of loyalty to her
lover, she is in a dilemma. She naturally expects that her lover
will not desert her. The latter, however, stresses his lack of
financial independence and hints at an abortion. When she
flatly rejects this, he self-sacrificingly intimates that she should
make advances to her husband—not for an extended honey¬
S
Kdahar