Anatol

Anatol, a cycle of seven one-act plays written by A. Schnitzler 1889-90, and published in 1893. Though some of the plays were performed separately, the first production of the cycle in German took place in Vienna in December 1910. A performance in Czech had been given in Prague in 1893.

The seven plays present incidents in the amours of the young philanderer and man-about-town Anatol. In Die Frage an das Schicksal he hypnotizes Cora in the hope of hearing from her the truth about her fidelity; but as soon as she is unconscious he flinches from putting the question. Weihnachtseinkäufe consists in a short conversation in the street on Christmas Eve between Anatol and Frau Gabriele, a well-to-do acquaintance; when she has gone he realizes that he has neglected an opportunity. Episode, the first of the plays to be written, sees him bitterly disillusioned when Bianca, a circus-girl, with whom he has once had an affaire, fails to recognize him on her return to Vienna. Denksteine reveals to Anatol the mercenary nature of his mistress Emilie. In Abschiedssouper he gives what he intends to be a farewell supper for the ballerina Annie, of whom he has tired, only to find, to his unjustified indignation, that she has come with a similar intention. The dialogue of Agonie, in its dissimulation and hypocrisy, shows the love between Anatol and Frau Else degenerating into boredom. The last, Anatols Hochzeitsmorgen, sees Anatol deceiving his bride with Ilona, a former mistress, the night before his wedding. Max, a bachelor friend, is present in Die Frage an das Schicksal, Episode, Abschiedssouper, and Anatols Hochzeitsmorgen. The other three plays are duologues. The fluent dialogue of the cycle is by turns witty and pungent, the atmosphere evocative. Erotic psychology is convincingly, though cynically, analysed. The plays are accompanied by a verse prologue (Einleitung) by Schnitzler's friend H. von Hofmannsthal. An eighth play, Anatols Größenwahn, not published in the author's lifetime, was performed in 1932.