Austrian playwright. He was born on May 15, 1862 in Vienna. In 1885 he received a degree in medicine, but left the practice for the sake of literary creativity. Schnitzler’s interest in psychological analysis and reassessment of cultural values, critical attitude to culture, together with the refinement of his literary tastes made his work a mirror of the Viennese society of the first three decades of the 20th century.
His early play Anatole (Published 1893) cemented his reputation as a master of impressionistic poetic one-acts. The passionate assertion of the fleeting joys of life invariably comes into conflict with the falsehood of social institutions, delight is replaced by boredom, feelings are impermanent, and the seducer in one scene is deceived himself in the next (Reigen, published 1900).
The game of love (Liebelei, 1895), which confuses romantic sentimentality with a sober understanding of life and love as hopelessly transitory joys, may perhaps be considered Schnitzler's most characteristic work.
In the Green Parrot (Der grune Kakadu, 1899), the eve of the French Revolution served as a background for tragicomedy; in the Napoleonic era, the action of the Young Medard (Der junge Medardus, 1910) takes place.
In the spirit of the Renaissance, the hymn of love giving meaning to life is sung in Der Schleier der Beatrice (1900).
With rare exceptions, Schnitzler remained the "Viennese" playwright: The Lonely Way (Der einsame Weg, 1903); Puppets (Marionetten, 1906); Professor Bernhardi (Professor Bernhardi, 1912); The Comedy of Words (Komdie der Worte, 1915).
The early story of Mortal (Sterben, 1895) revealed frankly naturalistic techniques, later in Schnitzler’s prose the influence of G. Flaubert and G. Maupassant prevailed.
In the novel, Lieutenant Gustl (Leutnant Gustl, 1901), the writer was among the first in German literature to turn to the "internal monologue".
Der Weg ins Freie (1908) tells the story of the Vienna Jewish community. The squeezing note of torment, fatigue, indifference, which was strongly resounded in the Return of Casanova (Casanovas Heimfart, 1918), lends a special lyricism to the mature prose of Schnitzler-Lady Else (Frulein Else, 1924); A Tale of Dreams (Spiel im Morgengrauen, 1927) Flucht in Die Finsternis (1927)
Schnitzler died in Vienna on October 21, 1931.