The shepherd's flute (Schnitzler)

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The Shepherd's Flute is a story by Arthur Schnitzler , written in 1909 and published on September 9, 1911 in the literary magazine Die neue Rundschau in Berlin. The author took the little work into his collection of novels "Masks and Miracles" (S. Fischer, Berlin 1912).

content

At an advanced age, the wealthy astronomer Erasmus marries the graceful, just orphaned Dionysia. After three years of marriage, the young woman is amazed to hear the husband's decision. He releases her and will take her back to his house at any time, even if she were to commit marriage outside.

Dionysia goes out barefoot in nightwear to a young shepherd. In an argument, she breaks his flute and yet stays with him. When Dionysia grows tired of the Shepherd and longs for Erasmus, she meets a rich manufacturer on the way home. She becomes his lover and rises to mistress at his castle. Dionysia does all she can to alleviate the suffering of the poor wage-earning families, but she does not go against the prevailing order. Revolt breaks out. After the lover has put down the rebellion with the help of the state power, the young woman leaves him. On the way, Dionysia comes under rebellion and is forcibly taken by one of the men at night. Soon afterwards she becomes the young Count's mistress in the walled city. When the latter has to go to war, Dionysia joins him and fights bloody battles at his side. The count falls. Dionysia buries him and gives birth to his child, a boy, the following spring. The heroine, adored by the people, lives in the castle of the deceased. People around Dionysia turn away from their young mother for the first time when the prince casts his wife away and falls in love with Dionysia. Hungry for love and power, Dionysia finally reaches the prince to have her son proclaimed prince. This is the limit. Dionysia finds her child murdered. The prince turns away from the desperate woman.

Dionysia reaches Erasmus with great difficulty. The wise friend of the stars welcomes you and wants to keep his promise. But Dionysia accuses him. He doesn't love her. His heart was tired, and he had sent her out to break a flute, a flute "whose tones threatened seduction to the beloved". Dionysia goes away and was never seen again.

reception

  • According to Perlmann, Dionysia is sent into the world by Erasmus in order to get to know her subconscious desires and thus herself. The experiment fails. Dionysia, returned, leaves Erasmus the rationalist.
  • Michael Scheffel points to the descriptive name Dionysia in his concise but apt analysis of this Schnitzler's fairytale world .
  • Wolf discusses the novella in connection with the author's failed film projects.
  • Perlmann gives further leading works: Maja D. Reid (1971), Gutt (1978), S. Allerdissen (1985) and Rolf Geißler (1986).

Web links

literature

source
  • Arthur Schnitzler: The Shepherd's Flute. P. 7–41 in Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Arthur Schnitzler: Casanovas Heimfahrt. Stories 1909 - 1917. With an afterword by Michael Scheffel . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (1999 edition). 495 pages, ISBN 3-10-073553-6
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 .
Audio book
  • Arthur Schnitzler: The Shepherd's Flute. A love story . Read by Ernie Wilhelmi and Jan Koester, with a contribution by August Everding . NOANOA audio book edition and theater publisher, August 1999, ISBN 978-3-932929-10-6 . 1 CD, running time 69 min.
Secondary literature
  • Michaela L. Perlmann: Arthur Schnitzler. Metzler Collection, Vol. 239. Stuttgart 1987. 195 pages, ISBN 3-476-10239-4
  • Claudia Wolf: Arthur Schnitzler and the film. Meaning. Perception. Relationship. Implementation. Experience. Dr. phil. Dissertation of August 2, 2006, Universitätsverlag Karlsruhe (TH) 2006. 198 pages, ISBN 3-86644-058-8
  • Gero von Wilpert : Lexicon of world literature. German Authors A - Z . S. 555, right column, 13. Zvu Stuttgart 2004. 698 pages, ISBN 3-520-83704-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source, p. 489, first entry
  2. ↑ Source, p. 39, 2nd Zvu
  3. ↑ Perlmann, pp. 113-114
  4. ↑ Afterword in the source, p. 481, 9th Zvu
  5. ↑ Wolf, p. 116 below to p. 120
  6. ↑ Quoted in Wolf, p. 115/116: During Schnitzler's lifetime there were five film adaptations: "Liebelei" (1914 and 1927), "Medardus" (1923), "Freiwild" (1928) and "Fräulein Else" (1929) . Drafts, however, remained (the year of the draft in round brackets): "The Shepherd's Flute" (1913), "The Call of Life" (1920), "The Pierette's Veil" (1921), " The Great Scene " (1926), "Game at Dawn" (1928) and "Traumnovelle" (1930).
  7. ↑ Perlmann, p. 114, last entry