Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1933), an Austrian writer and playwright of Jewish origin, is considered by many as the literary “twin” of his contemporary, father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud. His most famous work, Traumnovelle, was adapted into Stanley Kubrick’s provocative 1999 motion picture “Eyes Wide Shut.” Schnitzler best described the atmosphere of decadence among the bourgeoisie in Vienna at the end of the 19th century, when social, “moral” prohibitions collided with conscious and unconscious desires. Like other great writers, such as Anton Chekhov and Mikhail Bulgakov, Schnitzler was a physician by profession. With the publication of Traumnovelle, Freud – who held literature close to heart – sent a letter of admiration to Schnitzler, a letter which was also published publicly.
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The Death of a Bachelor