52 pages • 1 hour read
Stefan ZweigThe World of Yesterday: An Autobiography
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1942A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Discuss Stefan Zweig. What kind of man was he and why was he moved to write this memoir?
Discuss the motif of youth. How do European attitudes toward youth change during the course of Zweig’s lifetime and what causes those changes?
Discuss the theme of The Rise and Fall of Cosmopolitanism. What is cosmopolitanism and why is it important to Zweig?
Discuss the theme of The False Promise of Security. Why does Zweig argue Europe was so unprepared for World Wars I and II?
Discuss the theme of The Rise of Extremist Ideologies. Which ideologies led to World Wars I and II in Europe and how does Zweig suggest that future generations prevent extremism?
Discuss Zweig’s experience of exile. Which of his beliefs, values, and ideals might have made exile such a difficult experience for him, and why was he never able to reconcile himself to life outside of Europe?
Discuss the importance of intellectual friendships and collaborations for Zweig. What common thread runs through the relationships he discusses in this memoir?
Discuss the motif of bearing witness. What does “bearing witness” mean for Zweig and why is it important within the broader historical context of this memoir?
Discuss the motif of intellect and the arts. How was Zweig shaped by the intellectual world of Vienna? Which of the values that he learned there did he carry with him throughout his career?
This memoir is steeped in the history of Europe at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. How does it engage with important events such as the fall of the Habsburg Empire, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the rise of fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany?
