About the work
Die Frau mit dem Dolche (The Woman with the Dagger) is a one-act play from the four-part cycle Lebendige Stunden, which Arthur Schnitzler had premiered on 4 January 1902 at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.
Plot
The married Pauline spends time with the young Leonhard in a picture gallery before leaving with her husband for Italy; she turns down his declaration of love but agrees to spend one last night with him. Before a 16th-century painting, she envisions the story of Paola and Lionardo, who lived through the same situation, until Paola stabbed her lover out of love. The vision casts a shadow over Pauline's own decision.
Cultural significance
According to Schnitzler's diary, the cycle's joint premiere was recorded as a "great success." The device of mirroring a historical parallel plot as a foreshadowing of the present is considered one of the most original formal devices in Schnitzler's one-act work.