Twenty-four hours from a woman's life

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Twenty-four hours from the life of a woman is a novella by Stefan Zweig from 1927.

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The narrator lives in a small guesthouse on the Riviera near Monte Carlo . For one guest, the father of two teenage daughters, the woman runs away with a young man. The unheard-of incident is the subject of controversial discussion among the guests of the pension. Mrs. C., an elderly Scottish lady, starts a conversation with the narrator, she trusts him and tells him an unusual and unforgettable story in her life in private.

action

Mrs. C. wants to talk about the experiences of a day 25 years ago. At that time, the well-to-do woman was widowed in her second year. The two sons meanwhile went their own way; neither needed nor wanted their assistance.

One day in March, Mrs. C. meets her new love in the Monte Carlo casino. An about 24-year-old budding Austrian diplomat with Polish aristocratic roots, currently living in Nice , plays and loses. Mrs. C., eighteen years older, wants to save the loser from suicide. The young man, who only has one revolver and four cartridges, takes the lady for a cocotte and drags her into the shabby hotel, where he should sleep in if she wants.

When Mrs. C. wakes up in the morning, she is lying next to the half-dressed young Pole. Mrs. C. goes to her hotel, takes off her mourning dress and gets some cash. Because the Pole relieved his aunt of valuables, sold them and gambled away the cash. According to Mrs. C. the player should buy back the valuables and give them back to the aunt. The Pole promises it high and sacred. As soon as the madman has fresh money, however, he forgets his promise, again gambled away everything, no longer wants to know anything about Mrs. C. because she only brings him bad luck, and shoots himself. Mrs. C. had loved the young man beyond measure. She would have followed him elsewhere - just as the faithless wife of the factory owner ran after her young lover from the small pension. Love for a much younger man had made Mrs. C., who had been grieving for over a year, into a new woman who understood her striving as follows: "Do anything, just don't let him!"

For interpretation

Zweig's story bears some resemblance to the novel 24 hours in the life of a sensitive woman (1824) by Constance zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck . First of all, it's the title, but also the woman's situation: the woman she loves has followed a stronger love. Above all, however, the events essentially take place inside the woman.

Zweig's main character is fascinated by the violence of the man's feelings, which he lets outward more than any other person she knows. When she feels that he has given up on himself, she finds a purpose in her life in saving his life. First of all, she wants to prevent him from committing suicide. When she has learned the full background of his passion for gambling, she tries to cure him of it.

Film adaptations

The story was written in 1931 by Robert Land with Henny Porten and Walter Rilla (title: 24 hours from the life of a woman ), in 1953 as "Affair in Monte Carlo" with Merle Oberon and Richard Todd in the leading roles, in 1968 by Dominique Delouche ( = 24 hours from the life of a woman (1968) ) with Danielle Darrieux and last filmed in 2002 by Laurent Bouhnik with Agnès Jaoui and Michel Serrault .

In 1961 there was a US TV version directed by Silvio Narizzano with Ingrid Bergman and Rip Torn .

expenditure

  • Stefan Zweig: Confusion of feelings. Three novels. (Twenty-four hours from a woman's life. Downfall of a heart. Confusion of emotions). Leipzig Insel-Verlag 1927.
  • Stefan Zweig: Twenty-four hours from the life of a woman. In: Novellas . Vol. 2, pp. 319-394. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1986.

literature

  • Gabriella Rovagnati: “Detours on the way to myself”. On the life and work of Stefan Zweig. Bouvier Verlag, Bonn 1998. (Treatises on art, music and literary studies. 400.) ISBN 3-416-02780-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edition used, p. 531
  2. ↑ Edition used, p. 380, 9. Zvu
  3. ↑ Constance de Salm: "24 hours in the life of a sensitive woman", Hoffmann and Campe-Verlag, Hamburg 2008, 128 pages ( review )
  4. ↑ Further interpretations: "One of the fable's weaknesses is its predictability. When the young Pole refuses to accept any cash from Mrs. C. (Edition used, p. 377,2), the reader knows the bad end. With money in his hands the gambler will rush back into the gaming room and lose. However, the love story of Mrs. C. - her “terrible encounter” (used edition, p. 391,11) - is credible. The reader takes the Scottish assurances: You did not sleep with the boy, but only lay next to him for one night. The reader finds many confessions by Mrs. C. as sincere - for example the disappointment when she regrets that the Pole venerated her “only as a saint. . and not ... as a woman. ”(Edition used, p. 378, 5. Zvu) Some of Stefan Zweig's phrases seem kitschy in the 21st century:“ Shine of emotion moistened his gaze; ... ”(Edition used, S. 377, 11. Zvu) < Hedwig Storch >