Illusion and Reality

Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) is recognized, along with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, as the major literary exponent of the fin-de-siècle and impressionism in the German-speaking world. Through skillful variation of the basic theme of illusion and reality in such masterpieces as At the Green Cockatoo, The Dead are Silent, and Blind Geronimo and his Brother, Schnitzler explores the primal relationships of human experience. The moods Schnitzler creates range from the lighthearted, to the melancholy, to the existential, while the psychological portraits he paints provide the stimuli for the reader to ponder the essence of life and death and love. Stream-of-consciousness techniques in the prose and the witty dialogue of the plays unmask the psyches of characters whose humanness is as authentic today as it was at the turn of the century. This anthology of thirteen first-time and new translations is preceded by introductory notes on the period, author, and individual selections, as well as by Hofmannsthal's lyrical introduction to Anatol.