When we talk about "infatuation," we think of some poems, some legends, and some characters.
Think of "I was not born when the king was born, I was born and the king is old"; I think of "the belt is gradually widening and there is no regret, and the people are haggard for The Elimination"; I think of the Emperor E and the female Ying weeping into blood stained bamboo spots...
Emotions do not know what to do, and go deeper, the living can die, and the dead can live. Life, it seems, has become the highest price of infatuation.
However, in the Novel "Letter from a Strange Woman" by the Austrian writer Zweig, the protagonist of the story reaches the highest state of infatuation -
The heroine of the movie "Letter from a Strange Woman" played by Joan Fonden
For the sake of the person she loves, it is not only life, she can have a crush for a lifetime and never marry for life. Even after her death, the other party still can't remember exactly who this infatuated woman really is.
The novel takes the heroine's letter as the main body, and with sincere, energetic and moving emotions, tells the story of the "strange woman's" lifelong love for the writer, which is heartbreaking to read.
Zweig's Letter from a Strange Woman
Even Gorky could not help but sigh after reading it: "I was so excited that I cried without any shame." ”
This strange woman, not even a name. "Infatuation" is her only label. Here's a closer look at her "infatuation deeds":
Movie "Letter from a Strange Woman"
When the "strange woman" was 13 years old, she fell in love with the writer at the first sight, and since then she has a crush on him for 16 years and has never confessed to him.
Why?
One is because of the disparity in status — one is a girl from a poor widow's family, and the other is a popular writer, and she feels ashamed of herself in front of him.
Second, it is the most important reason - she is intelligent, and she has insight into his nature at a glance:
"You are enthusiastic, at ease, indulging in finding flowers and asking willows; you are very serious in your career, have a strong sense of responsibility, and are knowledgeable!" "All you like is to be at ease, to be at ease, to be in love, and not to make sacrifices."
Her true feelings and affection made her reluctant to add even a psychological burden to him. For this reason, she was willing to hide in the corner, deeply and silently in love with him, like a lonely flower, quietly opening up to no one.
"Letter from a Strange Woman" starring Joan Fonden
With such a deep affection, she was planted in her own destiny, just like falling into the abyss.
She followed her remarried mother and temporarily left Vienna, still thinking about the writer. When she returned here, she was an 18-year-old woman with a flower face.
The writer was impressed by her beauty and spent 3 wonderful nights with her, but only when she was a woman who met in pingshui.
"Letter from a Strange Woman" starring Xu Jinglei and Jiang Wen
Therefore, after he left, he never looked for her again. But she did not complain in the slightest, "I love this you - I am obsessed at first sight but amnesiac."
After 3 nights of entanglement, she had the crystallization of love, and she was pregnant in October and gave birth to an illegitimate child.
"You just like to be carefree and relaxed in love, and if you suddenly become a father, you will feel that I have tied you up, and you will definitely hate me for it." 」 I'd rather take on everything alone, and I'm going to make myself the only woman you love. ”
So she remained silent and chose to raise the child alone.
(Seeing this, I believe that many men will yearn for such "love" and long for such an "infatuated" woman!) ）
At this stage, it seems that this strange woman has brought her infatuation to the ultimate realm. But it is not.
Xu Jinglei's version of "Letter from a Strange Woman"
In order to give her children a good education and the writer's son to become an aristocrat, the woman once again breaks through the limits of infatuation - she has sold her flesh!
At this time, the woman came out more beautifully, and the original face of the city was a little more mysterious due to infatuation, which made her attract countless men.
Joan Fontaine's Letter from a Strange Woman
For the sake of the writer's son, she climbed a count, and the child was thus admitted to the aristocratic school. But she repeatedly refused the Earl's marriage proposal. For her, even if she can only date the writer for an hour, she is not willing to marry a woman.
It was during that time that she met the writer again, who was once again attracted to her beauty and invited her to his room to linger...
To her surprise and sadness, the writer had quietly stuffed a stack of banknotes into her hand warmer. Apparently she was treated like a fireworks woman.
He didn't recognize the 18-year-old who had been hanging out with him for 3 nights, nor did he recognize the 13-year-old who fell in love with him at first sight.
As far as the writer is concerned, she is not even a sexual encounter in his life.
Bitter love has become the fate of a strange woman, and she is willing to step into the abyss, which is also doomed to her tragic end.
Eventually, their son died of illness and she was severely infected. At the last moment of her hospital bed, she wrote this long letter for the writer and passed away with infinite attachment.
Her only request in the letter was for the writer to buy a bouquet of white roses on her birthday – the flowers he had given her after their first entanglement...
At the end of the novel, the writer seems to have searched for the figure of the woman in the hazy memory, but feels "as if it only appeared in a deep dream".
If a woman had a spirit in heaven, she might have been ecstatic—the writer read the long letter and thought of the woman he could not remember.
Zweig has been hailed as the "most women-aware" writer. His novel has also been adapted by many film and television works. The role of "strange woman" has also been deeply interpreted by Joan Fontaine, Xu Jinglei and others.
Liking is wanton, and love is restraint. The infatuated lover who loves deeply can reach the realm of no-self, "I still willingly go into hell a thousand times." Such infatuation is inevitably deformed and too idealistic, hoping that it exists only in literary works...