There is absolutely no tendency or thesis. The story is told
for the sake of the story, and its chief redeeming quality lies in the
grace and charm and verve with which it is told. These were qualities
that immediately won the public's favor when "Anatol" first appeared.
And to some extent it must be counted unfortunate that the impression
made by those qualities was so deep and so lasting. There has been a
strong tendency observable, both within and outside the author's native
country, to regard him particularly as the creator of _Anatol_, and to
question, if not to resent, his inevitable and unmistakable growth
beyond that pleasing, but not very significant starting point.

And yet his next dramatic production, which was also his first serious
effort as a playwright, ought to have proved sufficient warning that he
was moved by something more than a desire to amuse. "A Piece of
Fiction" (_Das Maerchen_) must be counted a failure and, in some ways, a
step backward. But its very failure is a promise of greater things to
come. It lacks the grace and facility of "Anatol." Worse still, it
lacks the good-humor and subtle irony of those first sketches. Instead
it has purpose and a serious outlook on life. The "piece of fiction"
refers to the "fallen" woman--to the alleged impossibility for any
decent man to give his whole trust to a woman who has once strayed from
the straight path. _Fedor Denner_ denounces this attitude in the
presence of a young girl who loves him and is loved by him, but who
belongs to the category of women under discussion. When he learns her
history, he struggles vainly to resist the feelings of distrust and
jealousy which he had declared absurd a little while earlier. And the
two are forced at last to walk their different ways. Unfortunately the
dialogue is heavy and stilted. The play is a tract rather than a piece
of art, and the tirades of _Fedor_ are equally unconvincing when he
speaks for or against that "fiction" which is killing both his own and
the girl's hope of happiness in mutual love. Yet the play marks a step
forward in outlook and spirit.

Schnitzler's interest in hypnotism, which had asserted itself in the
first scene of "Anatol," appears again in the little verse-play,
"Paracelsus," which followed. But this time he used it to more purpose.
By the help of it, a woman's innermost soul is laid bare, and some very
interesting light is shed on the workings of the human mind in general.

"Amo