Round Dance and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Schnitzler, Arthur; Davies, J. M. Q.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192804596 ISBN 13: 9780192804594

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004

Synopsis

The playwright Arthur Schnitzler is best known as the chronicler of fin de si`ecle Viennese decadence. Here is a unique collection of seven of Schnitzler's best-known plays in new English translations that are fluent and expressive and ideal for reading, study, or performance.

Round Dance, written in the late 1890s, exposes sexual life in Vienna with such witty frankness that it could not be staged until after the First World War, when it provoked a riot in the theater and a prosecution for indecency. The collection also includes Flirtations, The Green Cockatoo, The Last Masks, Countess Mizzi, and The Vast Domain. These other plays explore love, sexuality, and death in various guises, always with a sharp, non-judgemental awareness of the complexity and mystery of the psyche. Acquainted with Freud and his circle, Schnitzler probes beneath the surface of his characters to uncover emotions they barely understand. Also included is the tragicomedy Professor Bernhardi, in which Schnitzler addresses the growing anti-Semitism of the period. The introduction by Ritchie Robertson explores the plays in relation to Schnitzler's life, to the culture of turn-of-the-century Vienna, and to Mordernism in general.

About this title

About the Author:

Ritchie R. Robertson is a Professor of German at Oxford University.

Review:

Davies's translation once again brings us closer to a masterpiece of modern drama written before the twentieth century had even begun. Leo A Lensing, TLS

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0192804596
• ISBN 13: 9780192804594
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448
• Editor: Robertson Ritchie