The prophecy
The prophecy is a story by Arthur Schnitzler , written in 1902 and published on December 24, 1905 in the daily newspaper Neue Freie Presse in Vienna.
content
The first-person narrator, a playwright, visits Baron von Schottenegg's villa on Guntschnaberg near Bozen in the summer . The Freiherr, a lover of open-air performances, asks the first-person narrator for a suitable piece. The scribe writes and delivers it. The writer was invited to the performance on September 9, 1868. On the day of the premiere, he arrives at Guntschnaberg. The baron introduced him to his nephew, Mr. Franz von Umprecht. Umprecht tells the newcomer his story shortly before the performance.
Exactly ten years ago to the day, on September 9, 1858, when Umprecht was still serving as a lieutenant in Poland, a sleuth who was acting as a magician prophesied his future to him. And that magician let the lieutenant see - only for a short time - a picture of his future vita. It was a moment on the evening of September 9, 1868. That is the day of Umprecht's death. The former lieutenant, now a landowner thanks to his wife's inheritance, has taken on the lead role in the play of the first-person narrator because of a "demonic connection". The final scene of the piece is exactly the same as the picture mentioned above. In that final scene, Umprecht is lying on a stretcher in a forest and meadow landscape. He has a scar on his forehead. A red-haired woman and two children - a boy and a girl - mourn on the stretcher.
Everything, but really everything, happens exactly. Umprecht marries Fräulein von Heimsal. This turns the hair red. The couple have a son and adopt Umprecht's niece. Umprecht gets the scar on a train journey. At the end of the piece, Umprecht suddenly dies lying on the stretcher.
reception
- Schnitzler, exhausting the mysterious, puts the reader to the test; check his trustworthiness and ability to criticize. The first-person narrator advocates Umprecht; form an alliance with him.
- Schnitzler was interested in parapsychology .
- The predestination concerning the author had probably still slightly exaggerated one.
- Ehrenstein had himself in the figure of the above. Sleight of hand and magician recognized.
- Arnold gives further work: Geneviève Roussel ( Lille 1988).
Web links
- The text at Zeno.org
- The prophecy in the Gutenberg-DE project
literature
- source
- Arthur Schnitzler: The Prophecy. P. 369–395 in Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Arthur Schnitzler: Leutnant Gustl. Stories 1892 - 1907. With an afterword by Michael Scheffel . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (2004 edition). 525 pages, ISBN 3-10-073552-8
- First edition in book form
- The prophecy . In addition to Das Schicksal des Freiherrn von Leisenbohg , Das neue Lied , Die Fremde and Andreas Thameyer's last letter contained in: Arthur Schnitzler: Dämmerseelen. Novellas. S. Fischer, Berlin 1907. 132 pages
- further editions
- The prophecy . jmb , Hannover 2013. ISBN 978-3-944342-30-6
- Secondary literature
- Michaela L. Perlmann: Arthur Schnitzler. Metzler Collection, Vol. 239. Stuttgart 1987. 195 pages, ISBN 3-476-10239-4
- Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Arthur Schnitzler. Publisher edition text + kritik, magazine for literature, issue 138/139, April 1998, 174 pages, ISBN 3-88377-577-0
- Peter Sprengel : History of German-language literature 1900 - 1918. Munich 2004. 924 pages, ISBN 3-406-52178-9