The Süße Mädel is a strictly Viennese term referring to a certain type/class of young woman at the turn of the century. She is a character that shows up in many of Schnitzler’s works including Reigen and in autobiographical accounts of his own life. Eric Bentley has translated this to ‘The Little Miss’ in his translation of Reigen and yet, it is more the understanding of the term that can get in the way for a modern audience as opposed to the literal translation. Below is an excerpt from the introduction of Schnitzler’s autobiography, My Youth in Vienna. Here Frederic Morton tried to capture the importance and the essence of the süße madel and how it reflects the overall themes within the work of Arthur Schnitzler.
“But, the most memorable Schnitzler character is das süße mädel, the Sweet Girl, who in one guise or another appears not only in these reminiscences but in Anatol, in Liebelei, and other plays frequently revived today. The Sweet Girl’s secret lies in her very vulnerability. Because of it she is no sooner bedded than betrayed. But because of it she also fascinates her betrayers—and us. In her willingness to be victimized there is an innocence and an odd strength, a dumb sensuous faith which none of her seducers can tap no matter how furiously they thrust themselves through her. For they, the smoothies, swingers before their time, are really the empties; they have given up on the world, while for the Sweet Girl the world continues sweetly—at least for a while. Such faith scrapes the jadedness off our nerve ends, it even attunes us, perversely, to the possibility of renewal.
At his best Schnitzler talked not just about old Vienna but about the aging of any culture; about the late, the very late, the maybe too late hour in search of dawn. Which may be our time of night right now”(xiv).
Morton, Frederic. “Foreword.” in My youth in Vienna, by Arthur Schnitzler, x-xiv. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.
