AMOURS (Liebelei); a drama in three acts; 1894 (1896).
OUTSIDE THE GAME LAWS (Freiwild); a drama in three acts; 1896 (1897).
CHANGE PARTNERS! (Reigen); ten dialogues; 1896-97 (1903).
THE LEGACY (Das Vermaechtnis); a drama in three acts; 1897 (1898).
THE LIFE PARTNER (Die Gefaehrtin); a drama in one act; 1898 (1899).
THE GREEN COCKATOO (Der gruene Kakadu); a grotesque in one act; 1898
(1899).
THE VEIL OF BEATRICE (Der Schleier der Beatrice); a drama in five acts;
1899 (1900).
THE LADY WITH THE DAGGER (Die Frau mit dem Dolche); a drama in one act;
1900 (1902).
HOURS OF LIFE (Lebendige Stunden); an act; 1901 (1902).
END OF THE CARNIVAL (Die letzten Masken); a drama in one act; 1901
(1902).
LITERATURE (Literatur); a farce in one act; 1901 (1902).
THE PUPPET PLAYER (Der Puppenspieler); a study in one act; 1902 (1906).
THE GALLANT CASSIAN (Der tapfere Cassian); a puppet play in one act;
1903 (1906).
THE LONELY WAY (Der einsame Weg); a drama in five acts; 1903 (1904).
INTERMEZZO (Zwischenspiel); a comedy in three acts; 1904 (1905).
THE GREATEST SHOW OF ALL (Zum grossen Wurstel); a burlesque in one act;
1904 (1906).
THE CALL OF LIFE (Der Ruf des Leben); a drama in three acts; 1905
(1906).
COUNTESS MIZZIE (Komtesse Mizzi); a comedy in one act; 1909 (1909).
YOUNG MEDARDUS (Der junge Medardus); a history in five acts with a
prologue; 1909 (1910).
THE VAST COUNTRY (Das weite Land); a tragicomedy in five acts; 1910
(1911).
PROFESSOR BERNHARDI (Professor Bernhardi); a comedy in five acts; 1912
(1912).
THE GALLANT KASSIAN (Der tapfere Kassian); a musical comedy in one act,
with music by Oscar Straus; ---- (1909).
THE VEIL OF PIERRETTE (Der Schleier der Pierrette); a comic opera in
three acts, with music by Ernst von Dohnnanyi; 1909 (not published).
The figures without brackets indicate the dates of production as given
in the collected edition of Arthur Schnitzler's works issued by the _S.
Fischer Verlag_, Berlin, 1912. The figures within brackets, showing the
dates of publication, are taken from the twenty-fifth anniversary
catalogue of the same house (Berlin, 1911), and from C. G. Kayser's
"_Vollstaendiges Buecher-Lexikon_" (Leipzig, 1891-1912).
"Anatol" was first published by the _Bibliographische Bureau_ (Berlin,
1893), and "A Piece of Fiction" by E. Pierson (Dresden, 1894). Both
were reprinted by the _Fischer Verlag_ in 1895. The original versions
of "A Piece of Fiction" and "Amours" have been considerably revised.
"Change Partners!" was printed privately in 1900, and was subsequently
published by the _Wiener Verlag_, Vienna. "The Gallant Kassian" was
published by Ludwig Doblinger, Leipzig.
"The Green Cockatoo," "Paracelsus" and "The Life Partner" appeared in
one volume with the sub-title "Three One-act Plays." "Hours of Life,"
"The Lady With the Dagger," "End of the Carnival," and "Literature"
were published together under the title of the first play. "The Puppet
Player," "The Gallant Cassian," and "The Greatest Show of All" were
brought out in a single volume under the title of "Puppets"(_Marionetten_).
For additional bibliographical data, see "Arthur Schnitzler: a
Bibliography," by Archibald Henderson (_Bulletin of Bibliography_,
Boston, 1913); "The Modern Drama," by Ludwig Lewisohn (New York, 1915),
and "The Continental Drama of Today," by Barrett H. Clark (New York,
1914). A good, though brief, analysis of Schnitzler's work is found in
Dr. Lewisohn's volume.
A LIST OF FIRST PERFORMANCES OF PLAYS BY ARTHUR SCHNITZLER
ANATOL: Deutsches Volkstheater, Vienna, and Lessingtheater, Berlin,
Dec. 3, 1910.
A PIECE OF FICTION: Deutsches Volkstheater, Vienna, Dec. 1, 1893.
PARACELSUS: Burgtheater, Vienna, March 1, 1899.
AMOURS: Burgtheater, Vienna, Oct. 9, 1895.
OUTSIDE THE GAME LAWS: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, 1896.
THE LEGACY: Burgtheater, Vienna, Nov. 30, 1898.
THE LIFE PARTNER: Burgtheater, Vienna, March 1, 1899.
THE GREEN COCKATOO: Burgtheater, Vienna, March 1, 1899.
THE VEIL OF BEATRICE: Lobetheater, Breslau, Dec. 1, 1900.
THE LADY WITH THE DAGGER: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
HOURS OF LIFE: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
END OF THE CARNIVAL: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
LITERATURE: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
THE PUPPET PLAYER: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, September, 1903.
THE GALLANT CASSIAN: Kleines Theater, Berlin, Oct. 12, 1905.
THE LONELY WAY: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Feb. 13, 1904.
INTERMEZZO: Burgtheater, Vienna (with Joseph Kainz as _Adams_), Oct.
12, 1905.
THE GREATEST SHOW OF ALL: Lustspieltheater, Vienna, March 16, 1906.
THE CALL OF LIFE: Lessingtheater, Berlin, Feb. 24, 1906.
COUNTESS MIZZIE: Deutsches Volkstheater, Vienna, January, 1909.
YOUNG MEDARDUS: Burgtheater, Vienna, Nov. 24, 1910.
THE VAST COUNTRY: Lessingtheater, Berlin, Oct. 14, 1912.
PROFESSOR BERNHARDI: Kleines Theater, Berlin, Nov. 28, 1912.
THE VEIL OF PIERRETTE: Hofopernhaus, Dresden, Jan. 22, 1910.
Single scenes from "Anatol" were given at Ischl in the Summer of 1893,
and at a matinee arranged by the journalistic society "Concordia" at
one of the Vienna theaters in 1909. A Czechic translation of the whole
series was staged at Smichow, Bohemia, sometime during the nineties.
Three of the dialogues in "Change Partners!" were performed by members
of the _Akademisch-dramatischer Verein_ at Munich in 1904.
The official records of the Burgtheater at Vienna show that, up to the
end of 1912, the eight Schnitzler plays forming part of its repertory
had been performed the following number of times: "Paracelsus," 12;
"Amours," 42; "The Legacy," 11; "The Life Partner," 14; "The Green
Cockatoo," 8; "Intermezzo," 22; "Young Medardus," 43; "The Vast
Country," 30.
The list of dates given above has been drawn chiefly from "Das moderne
Drama," by Robert F. Arnold (Strassburg, 1912); "Das Burgtheater:
statistische Rueckblick," by Otto Rub (Vienna, 1913), and the current
files of _Buehne und Welt_ (Berlin). For dates of Schnitzler
performances in America and England, see the Henderson bibliography
previously mentioned.
THE LONELY WAY
(Der Einsame Weg)
A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS
1903
PERSONS
PROFESSOR WEGRAT } President of the Academy
} of Plastic Arts
GABRIELLE } His wife
FELIX }
} Their children
JOHANNA }
JULIAN FICHTNER
STEPHAN VON SALA
IRENE HERMS
DR. FRANZ REUMANN } A physician
FICHTNER'S VALET
SALA'S VALET
A MAID AT THE WEGRATS'
THE LONELY WAY
THE FIRST ACT
_The little garden attached to Professor Wegrat's house. It is almost
surrounded by buildings, so that no outlook of any kind is to be had.
At the right in the garden stands the small two-storied house with its
woodwork veranda, to which lead three wooden steps. Entries are made
from the veranda as well as from either side of the house. Near the
middle of the stage is a green garden table with chairs to match, and
also a more comfortable armchair. A small iron bench is placed against
a tree at the left._
_Johanna is walking back and forth in the garden when Felix enters,
wearing the uniform of a uhlan._
JOHANNA (_turning about_)
Felix!
FELIX
Yes, it's me.
JOHANNA
How are you?--And how have you been able to get another furlough?
FELIX
Oh, it won't last long.--And how's mamma?
JOHANNA
Doing pretty well the last few days.
FELIX
Do you think she would be scared if I dropped in on her unexpectedly?
JOHANNA
No. But wait a little just the same. She's asleep now. I have just come
from her room.--How long are you going to stay, Felix?
FELIX
To-morrow night I'm off again.
JOHANNA (_staring into a fancied distance_)
Off....
FELIX
Oh, it sounds big! But one doesn't get so very far off--not in any
respect.
JOHANNA
And you have wanted it so badly.... (_Pointing to his uniform_) Now
you've got it. And are you not satisfied?
FELIX
Well, at any rate it is the most sensible thing I have gone into so
far. For now I feel at least that I might achieve something under
certain circumstances.
JOHANNA
I believe you would make good in any profession.
FELIX
I have my doubts whether I could get anywhere as a lawyer or an
engineer. And on the whole I feel a good deal better than ever before.
Often it seems to me as if I hadn't been born at the right time. I
think I should have come into the world while there was still so much
of order left in it, that one could venture all sorts of things one
couldn't possibly venture nowadays.
JOHANNA
Oh, but you are free--you've got place to move.
FELIX
Only within certain limits.
JOHANNA
They are a great deal wider than these at any rate.
FELIX (_looking around with a smile_)
Well, this is not a prison.... Really, the garden has turned out quite
pretty. How bare it looked when we were children.--What's that? A row
of peach trees? That doesn't look bad at all.
JOHANNA
One of Dr. Reumann's ideas.
FELIX
Yes, I should have guessed it.
JOHANNA
Why?
FELIX
Because I can't believe any member of our family capable of such a
useful inspiration. What are his chances anyhow?--I mean in regard to
that professorship at Gratz?
JOHANNA
I don't know anything about it. (_She turns away_)
FELIX
I suppose mamma is outdoors a good deal these fine days?
JOHANNA
Yes.
FELIX
Are you still reading to her? Do you try to divert her a little? To
cheer her up?
JOHANNA
Just as if it were such an easy thing!
FELIX
But you have to put some spunk into it, Johanna.
JOHANNA
Yes, Felix, it's easy for you to talk.
FELIX
What do you mean?
JOHANNA (_speaking as if to herself_)
I don't know if you'll be able to understand me.
FELIX (_smiling_)
Why should it all at once be so hard for me to understand you?
JOHANNA (_looking calmly at him_)
Now when she is sick, I don't love her as much as before.
FELIX (_startled_)
What?
JOHANNA
No, it's impossible that you could quite understand. All the time she
is getting farther away from us.... It is as if every day a new set of
veils dropped down about her.
FELIX
And what is the meaning of it?
JOHANNA (_continues to look at him in the same calm way_)
FELIX
You think...?
JOHANNA
You know, Felix, that I never make any mistakes in things of that kind.
FELIX
I _know_, you say...?
JOHANNA
When poor little Lillie von Sala had to die, I was aware of it in
advance--before the rest of you knew that she was sick even.
FELIX
Yes, you had had a dream--and you were nothing but a child.
JOHANNA
I didn't dream it. I knew it. (_Brusquely_) It's something I can't
explain.
FELIX (_after a pause_)
And papa--has he resigned himself to it?
JOHANNA
Resigned himself?--Do you think he too can see those veils coming down?
FELIX (_having first shaken his head slightly_)
Nothing but imagination, Johanna--I am sure.--But now I want to....
(_Turning toward the house_) Papa hasn't come home yet?
JOHANNA
No. As a rule he's very late these days. He has an awful lot to do in
the Academy.
FELIX
I'll try not to wake her up--I'll be careful. (_He goes out by way of
the veranda_)
[_While alone for a while, Johanna seats herself on the garden bench
with her hands clasped across her knees. Sala enters. He is forty-five,
but looks younger. Slender to the verge of leanness, and smooth-shaven.
His brown hair, which has begun to turn gray at the temples, and which
he wears rather long, is parted on the right side. His features are
keen and energetic; his eyes, gray and clear._
SALA
Good evening, Miss Johanna.
JOHANNA
Good evening, Mr. von Sala.
SALA
They told me your mother was having a little nap, and so I permitted
myself to come out here in the meantime.
JOHANNA
Felix just got here.
SALA
Well? Have they already granted him another furlough? In my days they
were stricter in that regiment. However, we were then stationed near
the border--somewhere in Galicia.
JOHANNA
I can never keep in mind that you have gone through that kind of thing
too.
SALA
Yes, it's long ago now. And it didn't last more than a couple of years.
But it was good fun as I look back at it now.
JOHANNA
Like almost everything else you have experienced.
SALA
Like much of it.
JOHANNA
Won't you sit down?
SALA
Thank you. (_He seats himself on the support of the armchair_) Am I
permitted? (_Johanna having nodded assent, he takes a cigarette from
his case and lights it_)
JOHANNA
Are you already settled in your new place, Mr. von Sala?
SALA
I move in to-morrow.
JOHANNA
And it gives you a great deal of pleasure, doesn't it?
SALA
That would be a little premature.
JOHANNA
Are you superstitious?
SALA
Well, for that matter--yes.--But that was not what I had in mind. I
only take possession temporarily, not for good.
JOHANNA
Why not?
SALA
I'm going abroad--for a prolonged stay.
JOHANNA
Oh? You are to be envied. I wish I could do the same--go here and there
in the world, and not bother myself about a single human being.
SALA
Still at it?
JOHANNA
Still at it.... What do you mean?
SALA
Oh, I recall how the same kind of schemes for traveling used to occupy
your mind when you were nothing but a little girl. What was it you
wanted to become?--A ballet dancer, I think. Wasn't that it? A very
famous one, of course.
JOHANNA
Why do you say that as if it were nothing at all to be a ballet dancer?
(_Without looking at him_) You, in particular, Mr. von Sala, should not
be talking like that.
SALA
Why not I, in particular?
JOHANNA (_glances up calmly at him_)
SALA
I don't quite make out what you mean, Miss Johanna.... Unless I
must.... (_Simply_) Johanna, did you know at the time that I was
looking at you?
JOHANNA
When?
SALA
Last year, when you were in the country, and I came out once and stayed
over night in your attic. It was bright moonlight, and I thought I
could see a fairy gliding back and forth in the meadow.
JOHANNA (_nods with a smile_)
SALA
And it was for me?
JOHANNA
Oh, I saw you very well, where you stood behind the curtain.
SALA (_after a brief pause_)
I suppose you will never dance like that for other people?
JOHANNA
Why not?--I have already. And then, too, you were looking on. Of
course, it was a good while ago.--It happened on one of the Greek
islands. A large number of men stood in a circle around me ... you were
one of them ... and I was a slave girl from Lydia.
SALA
A princess in captivity.
JOHANNA (_earnestly_)
Don't you believe in such things?
SALA
If you want me to--certainly.
JOHANNA (_still very serious_)
You should believe everything in which the rest cannot believe.
SALA
When the time comes for it, I suppose I shall.
JOHANNA
You see--I can rather believe anything than that I should now be in the
world for the first time. And there are moments when I recall quite
clearly all sorts of things.
SALA
And at that time you had such a moment?
JOHANNA
Yes, a year ago, when I was dancing for you in the meadow that moonlit
summer night. I am sure it was not the first time, Mr. von Sala.
(_After a short pause, with a sudden change of tone_) Where are you
going anyhow?
SALA (_falling into the same tone_)
To Bactria, Miss Johanna.
JOHANNA
Where?
SALA
To Bactria. That's quite a remarkable country, and what's most
remarkable about it is that it doesn't exist any longer. What it means
is that I am joining an expedition which will start next November. You
have read of it in the papers, haven't you?
JOHANNA
No.
SALA
The proposition is to make excavations where it is supposed the ancient
Ecbatana stood once--some six thousand years ago. That goes even
farther back than your Lydian period, you see.
JOHANNA
When did you get hold of this idea?
SALA
Only a few days ago. Conversationally, so to speak. Count Ronsky, who
is at the head of the matter, inspired me with a great desire to go.
That wasn't very hard, however. He stirred an old longing within me.
(_With more spirit_) Think of it, Miss Johanna: to be watching with
your own eyes the gradual rising of such a buried city out of the
ground--house by house, stone by stone, century by century. No, it
wasn't meant that I should pass away until I had had this wish of mine
fulfilled.
JOHANNA
Why talk of dying then?
SALA
Is there ever a blissful moment in any decent man's life when he can
think of anything else in his innermost soul?
JOHANNA
I don't suppose a single wish of yours was ever left unfulfilled.
SALA
Not a single one...?
JOHANNA
I know that you have also had many sad experiences. But frequently I
believe you have longed for those too.
SALA
Longed for them...? You may be right, perhaps, in saying that I enjoyed
them when they came.
JOHANNA
How perfectly I understand that! A life without sorrow would probably
be as bare as a life without happiness. (_Pause_) How long ago is it
now?
SALA
What are you thinking of?
JOHANNA
That Mrs. von Sala died?
SALA
It's seven years ago, almost to a day.
JOHANNA
And Lillie--the same year?
SALA
Yes, Lillie died a month later. Do you often think of Lillie, Miss
Johanna?
JOHANNA
Quite often, Mr. von Sala. I have never had a girl friend since that
time. (_As if to herself_) She too would have to be called "miss" now.
She was very pretty. She had black hair with a bluish glint in it like
your wife, and the same clear eyes that you have, Mr. von Sala. (_As if
to herself_) "Then both of them walked hand in hand along the gloomy
road that leads through sunlit land...."
SALA
What a memory you have, Johanna.
JOHANNA
Seven years ago that was.... Remarkable!
SALA
Why remarkable?
JOHANNA
You are building a house, and digging out submerged cities, and writing
queer poetry--and human beings who once meant so much to you have been
rotting in their graves these seven years--and you are still almost
young. How incomprehensible the whole thing is!
SALA
"Thou that livest on, cease thou thy weeping," says Omar Nameh, who was
born at Bagdad in the year 412 of the Mohammedan era as the son of a
cobbler. For that matter, I know a man who is only thirty-eight. He has
buried two wives and seven children, not to speak of grandchildren. And
now he is playing the piano in a shabby little Prater[1] restaurant,
while artists of both sexes show off their tights and their fluttering
skirts on the platform. And recently, when the pitiful performance had
come to an end and they were turning out the lights, he went right on,
without apparent reason, and quite heedless of everything, playing away
on that frightful old rattle-box of his. And then Ronsky and I asked
him over to our table and had a chat with him. And then he told us that
the piece he had just played was his own composition. Of course, we
complimented him. And then his eyes lit up, and he asked us in a voice
that shook: "Gentlemen, do you think my piece will make a hit?" He is
thirty-eight years old, and his career has come to an end in a small
restaurant where his public consists of nurse-girls and
non-commissioned officers, and his one longing is--to get their
applause!
[1] The Prater is at once the Central Park and the Coney
Island of Vienna, plus a great deal more--a park with an area
of 2,000 acres bounded by the Danube on one side and by the
Danube Canal on the other, full of all kinds of amusement
places.
REUMANN (_enters_)
Good evening, Miss Johanna. Good evening, Mr. von Sala. (_Shakes
hands with both of them at the same time_) How are you?
SALA
Fine. You don't suppose one must be your victim all the time because
one has had the honor of consulting you once?
REUMANN
Oh, I had forgotten all about it. However, there are people who feel
just that way.--I suppose your mother is having a little rest, Miss
Johanna?
JOHANNA (_who apparently has been startled by the few words exchanged
between the physician and Sala, and who is looking intently at the
latter_) She is probably awake by this time. Felix is with her.
REUMANN
Felix...? You haven't telegraphed for him, have you?
JOHANNA
Not that I know of. Who could have...?
REUMANN
I only wondered. Your father is inclined to get frightened.
JOHANNA
There they are now.
MRS. WEGRAT (_enters from the veranda with Felix_)
How are you, my dear Doctor? What do you think of the surprise I have
just had?
[_All the men shake hands._
MRS. WEGRAT
Good evening, Mr. von Sala.
SALA
I am delighted to see you looking so well, Mrs. Wegrat.
MRS. WEGRAT
Yes, I am doing a little better. If only the gloomy season were not so
close at hand.
SALA
But now the finest time of the year is coming. When the woods sparkle
with red and yellow, and a golden mist lies on the hills, and the sky
grows pale and remote as if it were scared by its own infinity...!
MRS. WEGRAT
Yes, that ought to be worth seeing once more.
REUMANN (_reproachfully_)
Mrs. Wegrat....
MRS. WEGRAT
Pardon me--but thoughts of that kind will come. (_Brightening up a
little_) If I only knew how much longer I might count on my dear
doctor?
REUMANN
I can reassure you on that score, madam: I shall stay in Vienna.
MRS. WEGRAT
What? Has the matter been settled already?
REUMANN
Yes.
MRS. WEGRAT
So another man has actually been called to Gratz?
REUMANN
No, not that way. But the other man, who was practically sure of the
place, has broken his neck climbing a mountain.
FELIX
But then your chances should be better than ever. Whom could they
possibly consider besides you?
REUMANN
I suppose my chances wouldn't be bad. But I have preferred to forgo
them.
MRS. WEGRAT
How?
REUMANN
I won't accept the call.
MRS. WEGRAT
Is that out of superstition?
FELIX
Or out of pride?
REUMANN
Neither. But the thought of having another man's misfortune to thank
for my own advancement would be extremely painful to me. Half my life
would be spoiled for me. That is neither superstition nor pride, you
see, but just commonplace, small-minded vanity.
SALA
You're a subtle one, Doctor.
MRS. WEGRAT
Well, all I gather is that you are going to stay. Which shows how mean
your thoughts grow when you are sick.
REUMANN (_changing the subject on purpose_)
Well, Felix, how do you find life in a garrison?
FELIX
Fine.
MRS. WEGRAT
So you are really satisfied, boy?
FELIX
I feel very thankful to all of you. Especially to you, mamma.
MRS. WEGRAT
Why to me especially? After all, the decision lay with your father in
the last instance.
REUMANN
He would, of course, have preferred to see you choose a more peaceful
calling.
SALA
Oh, but to-day there is none more peaceful.
FELIX
That's where you are right, Mr. von Sala.--By the by, I was to give you
the regards of Lieutenant-Colonel Schrotting.
SALA
Thank you. Does he still remember me?
FELIX
Not he alone. We are constantly being reminded of you--at every meal,
in fact. Yours is among the pictures of former officers that hang in
the mess rooms.
WEGRAT (_enters_)
Good evening.--Why, Felix, are you here again? What a surprise!
FELIX
Good evening, papa. I have applied for a two-day furlough.
WEGRAT
Furlough ... furlough? A real one? Or is it another one of those little
brilliant tricks?
FELIX (_cheerfully and without taking offence_)
I am not in the habit of fibbing, papa, am I?
WEGRAT (_in the same tone_)
I meant no offense, my boy. Even if you had been guilty of deserting
the flag, your longing to see your mother would be sufficient excuse
for you.
MRS. WEGRAT
To see his parents, you mean.
WEGRAT
Of course--to see us all. But as you are a little under the weather,
you come foremost just now.--Well, how are you getting along, Gabrielle?
Better, are you not? (_In a low voice, almost timidly_) My love....
(_He strokes her brow and hair_) Love.... The air is so mild.
SALA
We are having a wonderful Autumn.
REUMANN
Have you just got away from the Academy, Professor?
WEGRAT
Yes. Now, when I am also the president of it, there is a whole lot to
do--and all of it is not pleasant or grateful. But I seem to be made
for it, as they have insisted. And I suppose it will have to go on this
way. (_With a smile_) As somebody once called me--an art-official.
SALA
Don't be so unjust to yourself, Professor.
MRS. WEGRAT
You must have been walking all that long way home again?
WEGRAT
I even went out of my way some distance--to pass across the old Turkish
fort.[2] I am awfully fond of that road. On evenings like this the
whole city lies beneath you as if bathed in a silvery mist.--By the by,
Gabrielle, I have some greetings to deliver. I met Irene Herms.