Three Late Plays: The Sisters, or Casanova in Spa, Seduction Comedy, The Way to the Pond. (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture, and Thought. Translation Series)

A common element in Arthur Schnitzler's post-World War I plays is the need on the part of human beings to face up to reality. In 'The Sisters, or Casanova in Spa,' Andrea, the young protagonist, is required to deal with an ethical question in a mature, realistic manner before he and Anina can marry. The dominant feature of the 'Seduction Comedy,' Schnitzler's retrospective of Austrian society on the eve of World War I, is escapism. The work combines character study and political purpose. It examines a world on the brink of collapse, a world in which people of all levels of society continue playing their games, light or corrupt, as if nothing were wrong, all the way up to the outbreak of hostilities on August 1, 1914. In 'The Way to the Pond,' the enlightened Baron, with his denial of determinism and insistence on individual responsibility, is depicted as the person most likely to face both the threat of war and eventually the changes in his household in a realistic way.