Art; Literature, Modern -- History and criticism; Music -- History and criticism
Ever since I heard and saw Agnes Sorma in Liebele, I have admired the
dramatic writings of Arthur Schnitzler, and, remember, that charming,
withal sad, little play was written in 1895. I haven't seen all his
works, but I have read many. The latest adapted into English for the
American stage is the Anatol one-act cyclus (1893), and his new play I
witnessed at the Kleines Theatre, Berlin. It bears the singularly
unpromising title Professor Bernhardi, and is a five-act comedy. Its
performance was interdicted in Vienna. The reason given by the
Austrian authorities seems a simple one, though it is specious: for
fear of stirring up religious animosities Professor Bernhardi was
placed on the black books of the censor. The Jewish question, it
appears, is still a live one in Austria, and this new play of
Schnitzler's, himself of Semitic descent, is the very frank discussion
of a certain incident which occurred in Vienna in which a Roman
Catholic clergyman and a Jewish doctor were embroiled. The dramatist
is fair, he holds the scales evenly. At the end of the piece both
priest and surgeon stand alike in your regard. That the incident
hardly suggests dramatic treatment is beside the mark; Schnitzler,
with his invariable deftness of touch, has painted a dozen vital
portraits; the priest is superb, the character values of exquisite
balance. The hero, if hero he be, Professor Bernhardi, is carved out
of a single block and the minor personalities are each and every one
salient. I can't altogether believe in the thesis. Any one who has
lived in Vienna must know that, except in certain restricted circles,
there is no Judenhetz, no social ostracism for Hebrews. At the
eleven-o'clock high mass in St. Stefan's Cathedral, the numbers of
Oriental faces that one sees would be surprising if we did not hear of
so many conversions. It is considered rather fashionable in Vienna to
join the Christian fold. And on the score of business certainly the
Austrian Hebrews have little to complain of, as they are said to be
the leading factors in commerce. However, Henry James has warned us
not to question too closely the theme of an artist; that is his own
affair; his treatment should concern us. Has Schnitzler succeeded in
making a play of heterogeneous material? I don't think he has
altogether, yet I enjoyed several acts and enjoyed still more the
reading of it in book form.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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