SOURCE: Hammer, Stephanie. “Fear and Attraction: Anatol and Liebelei Productions in the United States.” Modern Austrian Literature 19, no. 3-4 (1986): 63-74.

In the following essay, Hammer examines the American production histories of Anatol and Liebelei to unearth American perceptions of Schnitzler in particular and of European art in general.

The American production histories of Anatol (complete cycle 1910) and Liebelei (1902) are both intriguing and revealing. The divergent fortunes of Schnitzler's two seminal theatrical works in this country provide a useful comparative basis for measuring the image and impact of his plays in the United States. More importantly, however, a comparison of Anatol's and Liebelei's fortunes here not only sheds light on the considerable polarity in American perceptions of Schnitzler, but also points to the paradoxical nature of our own self-perceptions and obsessions as they emerge in our reception of European art.

In March of 1985 Schnitzler's Anatol returned to...