Traumnovelle

When Arthur Schnitzler's arguably most ambiguous story was first published in 1926, Viennese society shuddered. The ruthlessness with which Schnitzler exposes the innermost soul of a respectable married couple shocked people even more than his earlier work "Reigen" had. Yet, it is not the glimpse into the abyss of primal instincts, nor the depiction of imagined or perhaps even lived orgies that continues to shock and fascinate readers today. It is not even the dreams that Albertine and her husband Fridolin confess to each other. It is the realization that no dream is purely "dream." It is likely that not only Schnitzler's couple has been "awakened." The novella served as the literary basis for Stanley Kubrick's final film: the worldwide success "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999).