Miss Ails

Author: Arthur Schnitzler
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Series of Famous Literary Works from German-Speaking Countries. Miss Ers, a young and beautiful woman, is the daughter of a renowned lawyer in Vienna. While vacationing in the Alps with her aunt, she receives a letter from her mother. In the letter, she learns that her father has fallen into a legal crisis due to embezzling assets of a minor ward. Her mother asks her to seek help from Herr von Dorsday, who is vacationing in the same place and had been a frequent guest at their home. To prevent her father from being disgraced, imprisoned, or driven to suicide, Miss Ers finds Herr von Dorsday. Already lusting after Miss Ers, he agrees to help, but Miss Ers must agree to a condition.
The focus of this short story is not the plot but the psychological journey of Miss Ers before, during, and after receiving her mother's letter, as well as after learning about Herr von Dorsday's condition. Schnitzler breaks traditional narrative methods and successfully employs stream-of-consciousness techniques, using seemingly trivial, fragmented, and disjointed language to vividly recreate the turbulent, complex, and colorful inner world of the protagonist, offering readers a magical reading experience that transcends time and space.
Miss Ers, a young and beautiful woman, is the daughter of a famous lawyer in Vienna. While vacationing with her aunt, she receives a letter from her mother. In the letter, she learns that her father has fallen into a legal crisis due to embezzling assets of a minor ward. Her mother asks her to seek help from Herr von Dorsday, who is vacationing in the same place and had been a frequent guest at their home. To prevent her father from being disgraced, imprisoned, or driven to suicide, Miss Ers finds Herr von Dorsday. Already lusting after Miss Ers, he agrees to help, but Miss Ers must agree to a condition.