Liebelei

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Liebelei

Arthur Schnitzler's 1895 play `Liebelei' provoked mass controversy within the Viennese upper class upon its premier in the `Burgtheater', as did many of his plays. This reaction could in part be explained by Schnitzler's "frank description of sexuality"¹ and his crudely realistic portrayal of Viennese society at that time through his application of very common personalities for his characters. In this essay, I intend to demonstrate the insight which Schnitzler gives the reader through the characters of `Liebelei', into Viennese society at the turn of the century.

First of all, strong insight is perhaps given into the Viennese high society, who were "devoted to order, mannered charm and the grandiloquent facades on the `Ringstrasse' "³ by the reaction of the audiences alone to the play and its characters. Both shocked and embarrassed the Viennese bourgeoisie with its "uncompromising representation of the Viennese world"². Schnitzler's writing of the play and his inclusion of these common, gritty characters coupled with the reaction of this part of Viennese society represents the "test of wills... [sic] between well-behaved traditionalism and liberated modernism"³ emerging in Vienna at this time.

Furthermore, within the play these "facades" belonging to the confident upper classes of the period are like wise displayed amongst the lower classes. For example, during the interaction between Christine and Katharina Binder (pp. 133-135 ), Katharina almost lectures Christine on the appropriate and expected behaviour of young working class girls within the Viennese `Vorstadt' - it

¹ Arthur Schnitzler - Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia, www.wikipedia.com

² Translation from in-clas...

... middle of paper ...

...hly emotional circumstances such as love affairs, duels and death, Schnitzler gives a huge insight into the social workings and expectations of Viennese society at the turn of the century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Leibelei - Arthur Schnitzler

www.Wikipedia.com

In-class translation - Arthur Schnitzler

Essay: Vienna Moderne 1895-1930, www.artsmia.org/modernism/e_vm.html

Outcast Vienna 1900: the Politics of Transgression http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=/ILW/ILW64/S0147547903000176a.pdf&code=22726a314

dcbb7089a5cdd4ecca8b84c

International Labour and Working Class History www.ingenta.com

The Empire of Austria; It's Rise and Present Power - John S C Abbott www.gutenberg.org/files/16070/16070-h/16070-h.htm#chap31

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