When starting this review, I must admit I had some hesitation because “fear” is a big emotion; it is already a feeling without a limit, shape or form, so how could I explain it in Stefan Zweig’s language? Nevertheless, I will try my best. A small warning for those who have not read the story before; this text contains spoilers.
Subject of the Story
Irene… She married a wealthy lawyer named Fritz Wagner, respecting her family’s decision, and had two children. Until the eighth year of her marriage, she managed to be a good mother and a good wife. She was satisfied with her marriage and had a happy life. One night, meeting a well-known and successful pianist at a gathering changes the direction of her life. She first accepts the pianist’s offer to play the piano alone with her.
It would be an innocent meeting, but later they find themselves in a sudden relationship. Irene does not feel an excessive emotional or physical closeness to this pianist, but she accepts to be his lover, and they regularly meet at the pianist’s house every week. One day, when she was leaving her lover’s house, she collides with a woman at the exit of the building. The woman accuses her of stealing her man, and Irene, afraid that the woman might recognize her, quickly gives her some money and silences her before leaving.
After this event, everything changes for Irene. She is physically exhausted, doesn’t want to go out, and doesn’t eat… because she is afraid that the woman will find her again and that her husband will find out about the incident. Her husband and the other people in the house notice the change in Irene. Her husband starts to press her, saying that she is hiding something and tries everything to get her to confess.
Irene has broken up with her lover. But the woman is still after her. She continues to blackmail Irene and demands higher amounts of money every day. Irene does her best to keep the situation going, but the woman’s last visit to her house increases her fear, and the amount of money she wants is not something that Irene can pay all at once without anyone noticing. Irene is forced to give the ring. Throughout this process, her husband is with Irene, trying to help her confess.
One evening, when Irene returns home, the children have fought, and her daughter has thrown her son’s toy into the fireplace. Fritz has created a small court environment to find out why and to make her daughter confess and punish her. He talks to Irene about the situation, explaining that sometimes confessing requires coercion, and her daughter was only able to confess and overcome her fear that way. However, Irene explains, “Do you think… fear is always the only thing… that prevents people? Shame… can’t it be shame? To reveal oneself… the shame of undressing in front of strangers…”
Fritz bu açıklamadan sonra anlar ve şu cevabı verir:
“You say shame… that’s also just a fear… Not of punishment but… Yes, I understand.”
After this, Irene decides that she can no longer bear this burden and cannot continue any longer. She cannot bring herself to confess. She decides to commit suicide. She leaves the house to seek help from her lover, thinking that maybe he can keep this woman away from her life without her having to die, and that everything will be okay. She goes to her lover’s house and learns that he actually doesn’t know such a woman. Now she has no other choice but to die. She goes to the pharmacy, buys the medication that will help her commit suicide, and just as she is about to take it, her husband arrives. They go home, and Irene has a breakdown. She cries, trembles, becomes exhausted, and faints. It is during this moment that Fritz confesses:
“No… Never… I swear… I didn’t expect you to be this afraid… I just wanted to remind you of your duty… To stay away from that man completely… And come back to us… When I found out about this incident by chance, what else could I do? I couldn’t tell you directly… I thought… I thought you would come back anyway… I sent that woman to make you come back, because I thought she would force you to come back… She’s a poor girl, an artist… An unemployed artist… She agreed only because I insisted… I know, I didn’t do the right thing… But I wanted you to come back… And I always made it clear to you that I was ready to forgive you… That I only thought of forgiveness… But you didn’t understand me… But I didn’t want all this to happen to you… Seeing what happened, I suffered more than you did… I watched you closely… Only for the sake of our children, you understand, only to make you come back for them… But now it’s all over… Everything will be alright…”
When morning comes, Irene wakes up with the ring on her finger and smiles while listening to the cheerful voices of her family from inside.
The story ends like this.
Details, details…
There is so much to say about this story, I don’t know where to begin. Let’s start with the characters…
Those who have read the entire story may remember that we do not encounter any physical descriptions of the characters’ faces. We do not know any of their faces, their eyes, noses, cheekbones, or temples… They are not there. Only descriptions of emotions will be provided… That was the first thing that caught my attention while reading the book. The story is not about Irene, but about the events and emotions. Irene has only become a symbol. While this story is being read by someone on one end of the world, someone else is experiencing it on the other end. Zweig seems to be saying, “Listen, reader, see, understand, we are the ones who did this betrayal, this lie, this deception, it would have been us if Irene had died by suicide…” in the voice of Irene.
Then the title of the book: Fear. Perhaps not seen much in the summary, but we see a thousand kinds of fear in this story. Fear of a woman’s husband, a little girl’s father, a blackmailer, a lover, betrayal, sincerity, lies, honesty… Every kind of fear. But such a fear that it has taken hold of her mind like her movements and emotions. Such a fear that she has been shattered by shame and made her forget her betrayal. We live through the events in Irene’s mind throughout the story. We see what Irene sees, hear what she hears, remember what she remembers, and forget what she forgets along with her. When the fear starts to take over Irene’s life, we erase the pianist who caused this fear along with Irene. Until the last person comes to her door for help. Until then, Irene wonders why she didn’t go to her lover and ask him to keep the woman away from her. That’s exactly why. She was so afraid that she erased from her mind the reason why she was afraid and the adventure that started this fear.
The first impression of someone who reads the story quickly might be that a woman cheats on her husband with a younger, more handsome man, and the pianist might be considered the main culprit. However, for Zweig, the only person who is not important in the whole story may be the pianist. He has no direct or indirect connection to the events, despite appearances. He is just a means to an end. If you remove the pianist from this story, there will be no disruption or gaps in the plot. Because the pianist is a weak character who only served as a means for Irene’s betrayal. Even if she had not met the pianist, Irene would have cheated on Fritz. The real issue is to reveal Irene’s state of mind and psychology. This is where we see Freud’s influence. As is well known, the reason why the characters in Stefan Zweig’s stories are so solid is that he took the ideas of his close friend Freud while creating these characters, and they almost created the characters together. I think the reason why we can forget the pianist along with Irene is that the writer can reflect the effects of fear so well to the reader, and we can believe with Irene that the blackmailer is really a blackmailer during the panic and rush. Irene has cheated. Irene is guilty. However, when we read the story, we get angry at Fritz in the end. We accept Irene’s mistake so naturally that it seems as if Irene had to do these things anyway. But Fritz has instilled a deep fear in Irene’s psyche. He has been ruthless, even if he had a childish idea. He dealt a heavy blow to Irene’s psychology, and she finally succumbed to suicide. Freud’s influence is felt throughout the story, whether it’s dreams, obsessions, cause and effect relationships… It is clear how much Zweig benefited from Freud.
When it comes to the descriptions in the story… As Irene is the main character, we see everything through her eyes. While the author may describe Irene and everything around her, he only tells us what we need to know. For example, when Irene is walking down the street, we only learn what she can hear, see, and feel. Even if the author knows more, it’s not important for the story, nor for Irene, nor for us. One of the main reasons many stories or novels are considered boring is that they go overboard with descriptions. The reader wants the action or the emotion, and they don’t care about birds singing for hours on a tree that is kilometers away, and Zweig is aware of this and doesn’t go beyond what’s necessary. We don’t care about what other characters see or hear in the story either. We only learn about them through Irene’s perspective. We know their feelings because the author tells us, sometimes by describing their facial expressions and sometimes by allowing Irene to voice her thoughts.
There is a lot to be said and a lot of topics to be addressed, but as I wrap up, there is one more point that I want to draw attention to. Throughout the story, there are two important characters: Irene and Fritz. None of the other characters have names or personalities, because they are not important. The idea being conveyed is the idea of fear. The concept of fear, the feeling of fear, the effects of fear on people, the consequences, the reasons, the paranoia that comes with fear… All of these are being conveyed through a very simple problem, and it has been conveyed successfully. For this reason, only the characters who experience fear are given identities and names. The pianist has nothing to fear, as he was able to move on with another woman after losing Irene. The blackmailer woman has nothing to fear, as she knows it’s just a game and she’ll make money from it. The pharmacist, the children… The children are slightly affected by the court case, and it seems like they are about to have identities, but it doesn’t last long because they are just a means to examine the main plot. However, Irene and Fritz’s fear is deep. Fritz sees that his family is about to fall apart and immediately wants to take action out of fear. He does everything out of fear. Irene, on the other hand, pays the price for her mistake with fear. Perhaps it is a price that Fritz unintentionally paid, but Irene is ashamed, afraid because of her sincerity and love. There can be many reasons for fear, and in this story, which is named “Fear”, Stefan Zweig has carefully examined the state of fear, the situations and consequences that cause fear, step by step.
My personal opinion is that I liked the story. Because it is not always possible to see such a good reflection of an emotion on such a simple event that has been told millions of times before. That’s its importance for me. The inclusion of everyone, both those who read and those who do not read the story, through a character and making emotions universal… I also think that anyone who wants to find things beyond action in the text they read can enjoy it.