An unsigned letter is a secret that has been sealed for many years. She wrote down the deep feelings of this life in a letter, but she was afraid that she could not convey them to him. And he didn’t know her name until the last moment of her life.
A Letter from a Strange Woman is one of the widely circulated works of the famous Austrian writer Stephen Zweig. This book, written in 1922, is a product of the war period. It has no grand historical narrative background and gorgeous rhetoric, but it touches every reader with exquisite and subtle psychological description. It is for this reason that Zweig is known as “the writer who knows women best in the world” and “the soul catcher”. Gorky commented that this book “is really an amazing masterpiece.”
The length of this novel is not long, but the story is tortuous and changeable, which makes people unable to stop reading. The author exposes all the heroine’s psychological activities in front of the readers one by one through letters. Let the reader can’t help walking into the heroine’s inner world, and accompany her with joy or sorrow. Looking at her letter to Mr. R, the image of a woman who has gone through the vicissitudes of life but has always been full of love came to light.
Mr. R, the writer, received a letter without signature and address. In the letter, a strange woman tried her best to write an unforgettable love story before she died. However, Mr. R did not know that he was the hero in the story.
The story took place many years ago, when the 13-year-old girl met the newly moved Mr. R. His appearance satisfied her imagination of all good things, so she fell in love with this polite gentleman involuntarily. At that time, she would not have thought that from which day, her life would be closely connected with this man.
Later, because she moved, she left there. After that, all her efforts were to return to him with all her strength. She did meet him three times in her life, but he never recognized her. Because of love, she is willing to raise their children alone. Unfortunately, the child and her died one after another because of the flu. Before she died, she finally mustered up her courage and confided to Mr. R. He also told him to send himself white roses on his birthday every year. Because the person who sends him white roses every year can’t send him flowers any more.
Tagore once said, “The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between life and death, but I am standing in front of you, you don’t know I love you; the furthest distance in the world is not that I am standing in front of you, you don’t know I love you, but I love you to obsession, but can’t say I love you.”
The meeting at the age of 13 made that person the concern of her life. Yes, all her life belongs to him. Three times we met, we couldn’t get a promise that could last forever. All she got was a long wait time after time, and then disappointment. But even so, she never hated him, and always unconditionally loved the person who did not even remember her name.
She didn’t want to let this love become his burden, so she silently assumed the responsibility of raising their children. She can take her child to find him, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t want to forcibly seize her freedom because of this love. She can choose to marry a rich duke, and then live a life of luxury without worrying about life. But for him, she was willing to give up everything. She simply felt that if she married someone because of her life, it would mean betraying her feelings.
Living in poverty, she could not afford to pay for the child’s medical treatment, and could only watch him die helplessly. Her occupation is very humble, but she is not willing to lay down her dignity and accept the love of anyone. Love for him is her only insistence.
There is a line in the film “Little Times”, “Love without material can only be a piece of sand after all.” Because of this line, “Little Times” has been criticized by many people, saying that the film is too material. But what about real life? Isn’t that so?
More and more times, there are too many complicated things in love. Cars, houses, money… do not rule out the existence of the simplest and simple feelings, such as Sanmao and Hexi. In her works, the only description of romance is that she and Hexi are sitting on the park bench, and they are shivering in the winter wind. But such feelings are really too few.
The heroine of the novel, who has loved Mr. R without complaint and regret in her whole life, can’t stop her persistence from breaking her heart again and again. Her persistence is touching and heartache.
When Tie Ning first met Bing Xin, she asked her, “Are you married now?” The 30-year-old Tie Ning replied, “Not yet.” Bing Xin told Tie Ning, “Wait.” She always felt that it was a very good state, and she didn’t make decisions against her heart because of age. Indeed, sometimes, many things are beyond our control. The only thing we can do is to wait and accept silently.
But will we really wait for the result we want? The heroine has waited all her life. She has been waiting and waiting with hope, but what did she finally wait for? She can only helplessly watch her life disappear little by little, and only before her death did she summon up the courage to speak out.
So, dear girls, you can wait, but don’t stop chasing.
