The killer

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The murderer is a story by Arthur Schnitzler , written in 1910 and published on June 4, 1911 in the Neue Freie Presse in Vienna. The author included the small work in his collection of novels “Masks and Miracles”, published in 1912.

content

Alfred, a young Viennese, " doctor of both rights ", without parents, does not have to earn his living by work. He persuades Elise, the lover, a gentle being, to give up her position. A woman is not enough for him. Alfred advertises for Adele, the daughter of a wealthy factory owner. The latter, however, advises the stormy lover to consider a year. On a longer journey he should find himself. Alfred is forced to respond to the friendly demand, but secretly takes Elise with him on the ship overseas. Although Elise occasionally suffers from heart cramps , he never spares her on any occasion. On the contrary, by heartless behavior he provokes the aggravation of the disease. On the one hand, Alfred writes glowing letters to Adele and, on the other hand, he convincingly plays the jealous in front of Elise. When a German baron on board became interested in the young woman, he made a scene for her. Much more - Alfred gets morphine and ends up killing Elise with it. Now - as the murderer imagines - the way to Adele is free.

But when the year is up and Alfred, back home, meets Adele expectantly, she informs him that she is now engaged to someone else. Alfred doesn't want to admit it. Adele disagrees. A year ago she made no commitments. Even when Alfred dares to go to extremes and Adele confesses the murder of Elise as "proof" of his love for her, the murderer receives a dismissive, final "no".

Fate strikes one last time. The baron tells Alfred to his face that he thinks he is a villain. Alfred's last thought, when he is shot dead by the baron in a duel, goes to the "unspeakable lover", Elise. To her he disappears into nothing as an atonement.

shape

Schnitzler tells the short story in a clever way. The narrator communicates the events mainly from Alfred's point of view. This protagonist feels safe; believes that he has sufficiently hidden his bigamy and poisoning from the world. The reader has to make sense of the other characters' point of view: Adele and her father as well as the baron can see through Alfred.

filming

In 1984 the story was filmed under the direction of Anton Reitzenstein . In the Austrian-Italian co-production ( ORF / RAI ) the main roles were played by Dietrich Siegl (Alfred), Philippe Leroy (Baron), Laura Morante (Elise) and Cécile Nordegg (Adele).

reception

  • Scheffel describes Alfred as having no character or feeling.
  • Sprengel recognizes Alfred's fuss between two women as fatal.

Web links

literature

source
First edition in book form
  • Arthur Schnitzler: Masks and Miracles. Novellas. S. Fischer Verlag Berlin 1912. 189 pages. Includes The Shepherd's Flute , The Bachelor's Death , The Murderer , The Dead Gabriel , The Redegonda Diary, and The Triple Warning .
expenditure
  • Arthur Schnitzler: The murderer . With eight full-page woodcuts by Ernst Huber. Paul Knepler Verlag, Wallishausser Buchhandlung. Vienna 1922. 82 pages
Audio book
  • Arthur Schnitzler: The murderer. The Redegonda diary . Read by Wolfgang Hinze. Naxos Publishing House. Series of Classics of Literature. September 22, 2003, ISBN 978-3-89816-122-0
Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source, p. 489, third entry
  2. ↑ Filming on Youtube
  3. ↑ Scheffel in the afterword of the source, p. 485, 7. Zvo
  4. ↑ Sprengel, p. 242, 3. Zvo