Arthur Schnitzler and the Discourse of Honor and Dueling

At the turn of the twentieth century, dueling was required of officers and gentlemen in Austria. This study examines the importance of honor to the Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) and to his society. It shows the extent to which discourses of class, gender, and race sustained dueling. It also identifies the sociological factors that transformed those discourses and thus helped to abolish dueling in post-war Austria and Germany.