Arthur Schnitzler was one of the most prolific playwrights and novella writers in the final days of the Hapsburg monarchy. His outspoken criticism of ingrained anti-Semitic prejudice, bourgeois hypocrisy and sexual double standards made him notorious. With a fine ear for dialogue and acute psychological observation, he became, alongside Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austria’s leading modernist playwright after Franz Grillparzer.

Arthur Schnitzler was born on 15 May 1862 in Vienna, as the oldest son of Dr Johann Schnitzler, an eminent laryngologist, and Louise Markbreiter, daughter of a wealthy Viennese physician. Johann Schnitzler came from a Hungarian Jewish family of modest means; like many ambitious young men throughout the po

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First published 17 November 2003

Citation: Rau, Petra. "Arthur Schnitzler". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 November 2003.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5412, accessed 20 November 2009.]