Only the inexplicable urge to make a baseness allows the Baron Friedrich von Michael R., a young aristocrat choked by inactivity, without interests and ideals, to get in touch with the dark side of his personality, thus reviving his life. Zweig’s novel seems to be a living, breathing example of what Jung referred to as the meeting with the Shadow. The images and metaphors of analytical psychology, describing the psychodynamics underlying each life experience, find a striking correspondence in the insights of great writers, who draw their inspiration from the complex plot of human affairs.
Keywords: Sloth, archetypes, Shadow, Anima, meaning, individuation