Sexuality in Central Europe During the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Although it is difficult to define the difference between sexual perversion and "normal" sexuality in East Central Europe, it is possible to loosely base their differences on the writings of Robert Musil, Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch, Stefan Zweig and Sigmund Freud. Both Musil and Sacher-Masoch illustrate sexual perversion whereas Zweig and Freud explain what is considered to be more "normal" sexuality.

Musil's "The Confusions of Young Törless" conveys what happens to young men in "civilized" spheres when they become curious about the world surrounding them. The protagonist, Törless, finds himself often unable to understand his experiences. He seeks knowledge, and constantly questions things of importance to him. The boy's school Törless attends houses boys of high society. These boys know practically nothing about things of a violent or sexual nature; therefore, they are forced to learn about it themselves. Consequently, his curiosity leads to having sex with a fellow classmate, Basini. However, while homosexuality itself is not a sexual perversion, this union is a sexual perversion because although Basini aroused desire in Törless, "Basini the human being was no more than a substitute, a provisional object for that desire" (Musil, 123). The author goes on to say "if Törless was debasing himself wth Basini, his desire was never satisfied, but was growing beyond Basini and turning into a new, unspecific hunger" (Musil, 123). Sex with Basini is merely a perversion; it does not fulfill Törless in any way but lust, and has no real meaning for him. Eventually Törless has to avoid Basini because the sight of Basini makes him nauseous, and also cause him to feel shame, an effect of sexual perversion. Because of the school environment surrounding Törless, his sexual relations with Basini made him feel ashamed. Musil writes that Törless felt he had been following a path which was still unclear to him, leaving him exhausted (129).

Sacher-Masoch's "Venus in Furs" is another example of sexual perversion. In this case, it has a name: masochism. The protagonist Severin has masochistic tendencies and throws himself at the mercy of his lover, Wanda. Their perversion includes flagellation, humiliation and subjugation. All of these qualities are described as masochistic in Krafft-Ebing's "Masochism." Like Törless and Basini's relationship, Severin and Wanda's relationship does not revolve around love. In fact, there is no real love between them. Wanda decides she cannot love a man who wants to be dominated, and Severin only thinks he loves Wanda because of his intense feelings of lust when she hurts him. After the first time Wanda whips Severin, he wakes up tired, "but her cruelty filled me with delight. Oh, how I loved her, how I worshipped her! [...] What bliss to be her slave!" (Musil, 43). Because there is only lust between them, Severin and Wanda's relationship is a perverse one.

On the other hand, Zweig writes of a world in which sexuality is repressed and hidden behind closed doors. During that time period, it was improper for two people of the opposite sex of the same social class to go anywhere together without supervision, because "the first thought would have been that 'something might happen'" (Zweig, "Eros Matutinus, 27). According to Zweig, in the Austria-Hungarian Empire, it was silently accepted that a man should have sex, but that a woman not have sexual desires because it "would have transgressed the conception of the 'sanctity of womanhood'" (Zweig, "Eros Matutinus, 28). In other words, "normal" sex was meant only for men to enjoy. And even though it was socially acceptable for men to have sex, it was not acceptable for anyone to know about the men's sex life. And as for the "normal" woman, it was not socially acceptable for her to even think sexual thoughts. However, because sex was so taboo, Zweig goes on to say there was a "gigantic spread of prostitution in Europe before the World War" (Zweig, "Eros Matutinus, 83). This can be likened to the Great Prohibition in the United States in the early 1900s when it was illegal to drink alcohol and alcohol became the most popular drink.

Freud also paints a picture of "normal" sexuality in his case study of "Dora." Dora is a teenage girl with repressed sexual desires. Freud also claims Dora has feelings for her father. She has symptoms, such as feeling pressure on her thorax, which stems from a memory of feeling an erect penis. (A friend of the family's, Herr K, had a sexual interest in Dora and tried to have relations with her). Like the people of the society Zweig wrote about, Dora felt it was improper to have sexual desires and therefore repressed herself. The reason Freud illustrates "normal" sexuality is because he believes there is no such thing as a "norm." Freud also writes of "Dora's" dreams, the first one being about her father waking her up in the middle of the night to save her from a fire. Freud explains this dream is connected to an incident which occurred between Dora and Herr K, in which Dora awoke to find Herr K standing above her. Dora tells Freud she "could not help feeling afraid that Herr K would surprise me while I was dressing: so I always dressed very quickly" (Freud, "Dora," 83). Again, Dora wants to repress any sexual feelings she may have, so she actually causes herself to fear anything that may lead to unleashing these feelings. She would rather be accepted in her society as the "normal" girl with no sexual desires whatsoever.

As one can see, there are two extremes of sexuality in East Central Europe. On the one hand, there are sexual perversions, which include masochism and sex without love. On the other hand, there is the "normal" sex, which means not having sex at all, or at least, hiding the fact that people have sex. Either way, there does not seem to be a real normal type of sex. And the fact that people repressed their sexuality may have lead to sexual perversion.