Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Dream Story was the beginning of my Viennese period. Ok, I read two books written by Austrian authors in preparation to my short visit to beautiful Wien. That somehow I’ve prolonged this period by later reading about a famous Viennese philosopher, Wittgenstein, is another story.
Arthur Schnitzler is an Austrian playwriter and novelist who was active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was part of the Viennese intellectual and artistic circles of his time. The luck has it that, while in Wien, I found the time to visit the Leopold Museum, which hosts art from exactly the same period. The exhibition includes Gustav Klimt, the most famous member of the Vienna Secession . What I liked about this museum, was that the exhibits were described in context with the social and cultural environment. As a result, I read a few references to Arthur Schnitzler such as the following: “The founding of the Vienna Secession, which stirred up the art scene as a veritable act of liberation, must be viewed against this background. While Hermann Bahr, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Arthur Schnitzler, all of them writers belonging to the literary group Young Vienna, expressed the prevalent sentiment of doom but also the sense of departure, while Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos developed innovations in architecture and city planning, while Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg revolutionized music, and Sigmund Freud revealed ground-breaking insights in psychoanalysis, the founding of the Secession in 1897 is regarded as the hour of birth of Austrian Modernism in fine arts.�

I was also excited to see that the Wittgenstein family was mentioned a couple of times which went perfectly with the book I’ve chosen by Bernhard. More on that in the corresponding review. .
Also, Sigmund Freud’s ideas are featured inside the museum, which incidentally were also major inspiration for Dream Story. Schnitzler's work often delved into the psychological intricacies of human relationships and desires.

Finally, Schnitzler was a regular participant in the vibrant café culture of Vienna. Cafés like Café Central were hubs for intellectuals, writers, and artists to engage in discussions. Thomas Bernhard also had a love and hate relationship with these Cafes, which was extensively explored in Wittgenstein’s nephew. Everything seemed to connect during my trip. Unfortunately, I did not visit Café Central this time.

I finally arrived to the Novella. Dream Story (Traumnovelle) presents the story of Dr. Fridolin, a successful physician, whose life changes after his wife, Albertine, confesses to having sexual fantasies about another man. The revelation pushes Fridolin, who has fantasies of his own, to embark on a surreal and psychological journey that blurred the lines between dreams and reality. He somehow finds and tries to infiltrate a secret society with some strange sexual practices. The society did not want to be discovered so Fridolin’s life becomes in danger. It is not exactly clear if the events are real or not and the books leaves the reader pondering about this.

The influence of Sigmund Freud, who I mentioned above, is evident here. One of the central themes of the novella is the exploration of dreams and the complexities of human sexuality, also central theme of the philosopher. While Fridolin embarks in a dreamlike journey, the author explores themes such as desire, guilt, societal constraints, hidden and repressed feelings. The novella can also be described as uncanny, a concept also explored by Freud in an essay.

Finally, This novella is the inspiration for the movie Eyes Wide Shut with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.