Reoccurring Themes and the Depiction of a Society

Arthur Schnitzler set almost all of his writings in Vienna at the turn of the century. With this setting he also explored many of the same themes emphasized by his depiction of Viennese society. Schnitzler, a doctor by profession, wrote  in a scientific way, exploring the psychology of its people logically and with emotion at a distance. Reigen specifically has often been criticized for being a “clinical study of the game of sex,” (Schneider, 82) and Schnitzler broke his themes down so that he could easily examine the people and their actions, highlighting his view on these matters.  Below is a brief overview of some of these themes and the depiction of Viennese society laid out by Gerde Schneider and Bruce Thompson. 

Sex in the City of Vienna

Schnitzler is interested in the social implication that sex has on a society and the façades that the Bourgeoisie created when partaking in these actions. He highlights the hypocrisy of this culture and how, in order to keep up appearances, truth, honesty, and moral correctness went out the window. He created his own brand of social realism, writing about the actions of a society through common acts and the conflict between a person’s psychology and outward appearance. Schnitzler knows firsthand about this type of behavior, documenting his own behavior in his diary entries and autobiography.

 In La Ronde, Schnitzler wrote ten short scenes that revolve around the act of intercourse, as these characters then revolve around the city, all the time revolving through the established social classes—managing to keep up the clean appearance they all desire. About La Ronde, Bruce Thompson states:

“There are recurrent motifs: intricate preparations for the act, coded signals of intention and encouragement, intermingled with false protestations, anxious calls for reassuring expressions of love, hasty departures from the scene in the moment of subsequent disillusionment…whilst the act promises so much, it is preceded by a period of anxious uncertainty, and the pleasure it affords is momentary and fragile, the aftermath a feeling of desolation,” (57).

This theme is repeated in his works, and though it is a comment on the fact that sexuality is a universal activity, it is more about sex in this social context and how in Vienna at this time, sex was the great equalizer, blurring lines between social codes of conduct.  It was common for men to have extra-marital affairs and, though contrary to the code of social correctness, only women felt the pressure to keep a pure and pristine appearance. As long as affairs were conducted with discretion then the social façade of a pristine middle-class could be kept up. “The hypocrisy of the bourgeois façade can be seen in the fact that despite the availability of sexual pleasure, the subject was not to be mentioned within the sanctity of the bourgeois home,” (Thompson, 59-60). It is tempting to label Schnitzler as an advocate for an early 20^th century version of “free love”, but Schnitzler is mostly interested in presenting a cynical view of sexual relationships and how they often rest in hypocrisy and leave the participants unsatisfied. 

Schneider, Gerd K. 1986. "The Reception of Arthur Schnitzler's Reigen in the Old Country and the New World: A Study in Cultural Differences." Modern Austrian Literature 19, no.3/4: 75-89. 

Thompson, Bruce. 1990. Schnitzler's Vienna: image of a society. London: Routledge.