Sex in the Suburbs: Nestroy's Comedy of Forbidden Fruit

The satire in Das Mädl aus der Vorstadt, constructed round three solo scenes, addresses the society of Biedermeier Vienna. Nestroy's exposure of moral double standards is more oblique than Schnitzler's later, because of the censorship in Metternich's Austria; but the Act 11 feast has a metaphorical character, satirizing the covert prostitution by which seamstresses boosted their earnings. In treating exploitation of women, the play reflects the contemporary interest in women's emancipation, expressed in roles Nestroy wrote in the early 1840s for Elise Rohrbeck. The improbability of the happy ending sharpens the subversive criticism; hence the mixed reaction of early reviewers.