Winner of the Grillparzer Prize.
The news that the Grillparzer prize had been
awarded to Dr. Arthur Schnitzler was welcomed
by all those who take real interest in the dramatic future of Austria, for though Grillparzer is the greatest of her poets and dramatists, it has rarely
fallen to the lot of an Austrian to be the recipient of the coveted prize; which is
the greatest distinction that a modern German dramatist can attain. Dr. Arthur Schnitzler is not only an Austrian and a Viennese, but a Jew, and one who is not ashamed of his Judaism. Of course,
this fact has given rise to much adverse criticism on the part of the anti-Semitic
Press, but, after all, it is not to them that men of culture go for information and
advice, and their views may be ignored with a clear conscience. The Grillparzer prize was founded by the Akademie der Wissenschaft during the life of Grillparzer, who greatly appreciated the honour
shown to him. It was his express wish that it should be awarded once in three years
for the best German drama which had been produced during that time. It is no barren
honour, its monetary value varying from 3,000 to 5,000 Austrian kronen (Dr. Schnitzler gained the larger sum). Another condition was that the drama must
have been produced successfully at a leading German theatre. Since 1887,
when the prize fell to Anzengruber, who died
two years later, no Austrian has gained the
coveted honour. It is exactly ten years since Schnitzler’s drama »Der grüne Kakadu«
was successfully produced at the Imperial Hofburg
(it has now gone over to the Volks Theater). This
one-act drama, which deals with events taking place on the eve of the French revolution, is exceedingly powerful in
dramatic effect, language and diction. It is now being produced by Baumfeld in New York.
The jurors had to study and debate upon the merits of no less than ninety-four plays
before coming to a decision. It was no ordinary jury, composed as it was of Hofrat
Minor, Professor of German Literature at
the Vienna University; Ludwig Hevesi, the well-known art and dramatic critic; Hofrat
Dr. Max Burckhard, the former director of the
Imperial Hofburg; the present Director of the
Imperial Theatre, Dr. Paul Schlenther; and Geheimrat Dr. Erich Schmidt, of Berlin,
all men known throughout the literary world of Austria and Germany, and whose fame has
gone far beyond the boundaries of these countries. Professor Dr. Eduard Suess, the President of the Akademie der Wissenschaften, was highly pleased with the result of the Conference, for Dr. Schnitzler was chosen unanimously for his drama,
»Zwischenspiel.«
Dr. Schnitzler is but a young man, being a
little over forty. He did not begin to write anything seriously till he was over
thirty, but his career has been both
interesting and successful. His father was a distinguished medical man, a specialist and Professor of
laryngology, whose services were sought far and near, and who achieved a world-wide
fame. His brother, Dr. Julius Schnitzler, is
likewise distinguished as a surgeon. He is first surgeon of the Rudolfspital and Professor of Surgery at the University. His only sister is married to Dr. Marcusz Hajek, a widely-known specialist for the throat and ear; and lastly,
Arthur Schnitzler is himself a medical man.
As he says, he was brought up in the midst of medicine and it came to him naturally.
After having taken his degree, he went to London, where he spent several months walking the hospitals and studying their
systems. On his return to Vienna, he set up as a
practitioner, won acknowledgment and was in the way of becoming a specialist like
his
father. Fortunately, his bent towards literature and the
drama especially, were greater than his love for medicine, and he became a writer.
His preparation had been a wide one; not only had he travelled and seen the great
cities of the Continent, but he had also been a voracious reader. From the first he
proved himself a writer of no mean talent, and his novels and dramas attained
immediate popularity. One of his earliest stories, »Leutenant Gustl,« brought him into conflict with the military authorities
and cost him his rank as Lieutenant in the Reserve. It is twelve years since his
first drama, »Liebelei,« was produced at the Imperial Hofburg
Theater. This at once gained him fame, and, with few exceptions, all his
dramas have been successfully produced on this stage. For some reason or other, »Der Schleier der Beatrice« was censored in Vienna, but it was, nevertheless, produced. Schnitzler has even met with more appreciation
in Berlin than in Vienna, but »a man is never a prophet in his own country,« and Vienna is Austria. He possesses a fine and cultivated intellect, keen, perceptive
faculties, natural warmth, and poetic fire and expression. He is Viennese to the core, with all that charm and grace for which
inhabitants of the Austrian capital are celebrated. He is essentially a modern
dramatist; what he says is trenchant and to the point, though he is never coarse.
The
prize drama, »Zwischenspiel,« deals with the
modern marriage question, and the relation of the wife to her husband and to her
lover. He treats the question with real earnestness.
Schnitzler’s diction is flowing and sonorous,
his language easy and musical. Needless to say, Dr. Schnitzler takes a warm interest in all questions of the day and all that
concerns Judaism. He hopes for a solution of the
anti-Semitic question, and treats of it in his serial romance »Der Weg ins freie,« which is now appearing in Die Neue Rundschau, but it is impossible to criticise his views till the story is completed. It
will be published in book form in August. He is also interested in the Zionist movement, though he takes no
active part in it.
Add to all that has been said, that he is about middle stature, fair and with
charming manners and withal a modest man, and you have a complete picture of Dr. Arthur Schnitzler.
