Kafka’s writing also shows how society added to his stress. Scholars like Reiner Stach explain in Kafka: The Decisive Years that his letters and diaries reveal guilt and alienation from family expectations and social rules. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa turning into an insect can be seen as a symbol for feeling isolated and anxious. Pictures of Prague from that time show a city changing fast, which helps explain why his characters feel out of place. Looking at these historical details makes me realize Kafka’s struggles weren’t just personal but connected to the world he lived in.

Freud’s main idea was that unconscious thoughts influence behavior. Peter Gay’s The Freud Reader explains that anxieties often come from conflicts between hidden desires and what society expects. This fits Kafka’s work because his characters often feel trapped by unseen pressures. Videos like “Freud and the Unconscious Mind” from CrashCourse show how our hidden thoughts affect our actions. Knowing this helps me understand why thinking about mental health is important since not all our feelings are obvious or easy to explain.

Alma Mahler was both a composer and a muse for famous artists. Karen Painter’s Alma Mahler: A Woman’s Life explains that her relationships were affected by society’s expectations for women. Old photos of her with Gustav Mahler and Kokoschka show how involved she was in artistic circles. YouTube videos like “Alma Mahler: Composer and Muse” explain her struggles balancing love, career, and public image. Learning about her shows that following what you love while dealing with societal pressure has always been hard, not just now.

Mahler’s music is full of themes about death and fear. Henry-Louis de La Grange explains in Mahler: A Biography that personal tragedy and awareness of illness influenced his symphonies. Listening to Symphony No. 2 shows how he turned fear into powerful music. Old pictures of Mahler in his studio show a man deeply affected by his life and society. This makes me realize that thinking about death is normal, but creative outlets and support systems, like GT Mental Health Services, can really help. (I do not need thank you though)

Mann struggled with his sexuality, which was a big deal at the time, and it shows up in his novel Death in Venice. Stephen Brockmann’s Thomas Mann’s Modernism explains that his characters often face inner conflicts between desire and social rules. Old photos and letters of Mann show a man aware of society’s expectations but wanting to explore his own thoughts. This helps me understand that identity struggles aren’t just personal and that they’re affected by the society around you.

Old photos of cities in 1913 show rapid industrialization. Videos like Modernism in 1913 show how art and architecture reflected society’s changes. Scholars say embracing some change helped people grow and adapt. This shows me that not all change is easy, but when it helps you learn or improve, it can be positive, just like dealing with new technology and school challenges today.

Kafka’s The Trial shows characters struggling with complicated systems, which is similar to modern bureaucracy and digital issues. Stanley Corngold in The Commentators’ Kafka says Kafka explored universal anxiety in society. Today, articles from the New York Times show that AI and social media create pressure similar to what people felt in 1913. This research helps me understand that the struggle with identity and society is ongoing.

Research shows modernism in 1913 shaped literature, art, and philosophy today. The Cambridge Companion to Modernism says the period encouraged questioning norms and exploring life’s complexities. Photos, paintings, and music from that era show how vibrant and tense society was. Knowing this makes me see that while tech and globalization are new challenges, balancing old and new is a struggle that has always existed, and we can learn from the past to manage stress and growth.

Researching the Balkan Wars, I found that Austria-Hungary was especially nervous about Serbia gaining influence in the Balkans. Historians like Richard C. Hall argue that this fear contributed to the rising tensions that eventually led to World War I (Hall 2000). Looking at maps from 1913 and contemporary newspaper reports helped me see how fast alliances and borders were changing, which must have made ordinary people feel powerless. This shows that societal anxiety isn’t a new thing and that humans have always struggled with quick changes that are hard to control. Today, people feel similar stress over international conflicts, climate change, and economic uncertainty, which makes me realize that worrying about global events is something every generation experiences.

I looked at photographs from Vienna showing women in universities and at public lectures. Articles about Alma Mahler and other women explained how their participation in public life went against traditional gender roles. I also read diaries from female students who wrote about feeling torn between ambition and what society expected from them. Seeing these photos, articles, and diaries helped me understand that gender pressure was not just from society but also from inside. This is important because it shows that women were making choices and pushing boundaries even when it was hard. Comparing it to today, I can see why people still struggle to balance personal goals with outside expectations.

I found some historians calling this period a “prelude to modern labor rights.” These strikes set the foundation for changes that improved workers’ lives. Seeing this makes me appreciate the protections we have today, but also realize that class tension is ongoing. The struggle for fair treatment and economic security is something that keeps coming up, even now, honestly pretty frequently when we see strikes at companies like Starbucks, Macys, etc in recent history. Also things behind our direct line of sight such as brutal labor working conditions and things we dont see as obviously as the strikes and boycotts I mentioned previously.

These cafés weren’t just for coffee. They were centers for ideas. People like Peter Altenberg wrote and shared thoughts there, which helped shape modernist culture. Thinking about this, it makes me realize that social spaces, even online ones now, are still super important for creativity and exchanging ideas. How we interact in spaces affects what gets created and what ideas spread. This goes for more things than we would think about because platforms like instagram, reddit and discord often host many groups of people in various things. On discord, they are referred to as servers and on reddit they are referred to as subreddits. Platforms like these have likely caused millions of ideas to be brewed up with the collaboration of individuals all over the world, and I can personally speak to this as I commonly take my questions and ideas to different subreddits on reddit based on the topic. Whether this involves questions about video games, technology, college, job interviews, almost anything I could need.

This research helped me see that public outrage was part of how society reacts to change. Seeing how people reacted in 1913 made me realize that discomfort is often a sign that ideas are pushing boundaries. Today, we see similar reactions to new technology, social movements, or experimental art.

Historians note that Vienna’s rapid modernization contributed to a sense of anxiety because people had to rethink how they lived and worked. Urban sociologists write that the city was becoming “a laboratory of modern life,” where new technologies challenged old routines, social norms, and even perceptions of safety. This helps me see that adapting to new tools has always been stressful. It also highlights a pattern that societies often experience anxiety during technological revolutions, even when the change is mostly positive. Knowing this makes me feel that the stress I see today around AI, social media, or smart devices is normal. People in 1913 had to adjust too, which puts our modern worries into perspective. Looking at other past events including this one really does make me more confident that big technological changes now and in the future will commonly result in positive changes even given the large worries that may be present.

Reading these essays helped me see that identity is always influenced by society, not just personal choices. People in 1913 faced pressures from urbanization, technological change, and cultural innovation. Today, social media creates a similar effect, pushing people to present themselves in certain ways and making it easy to feel like you are falling short. The essays helped me understand that trying to define yourself in a changing society is not a new problem. Both then and now, people have to balance who they want to be with what society expects.

Looking at a map of the shifting Balkan borders made me see why Weber’s warning mattered. Diplomats were literally redrawing lines on the map that decided who lived under which government. It reminded me of today’s war maps of Ukraine, where borders change with every offensive and NATO alliances affect millions of people who have no say in those decisions.

Seeing photographs of female students in lecture halls helped me realize how groundbreaking this was. These women were not just attending classes, they were pushing against cultural expectations. It made me think about how women today still fight for access in fields like engineering and finance, where men often dominate. Education has always been more than just learning, it is about having the courage to take up space in places that resist change.

Photographs of striking workers outside factory gates made me think about the risks they were taking. Their demands for shorter hours and safer conditions weren’t abstract, they were about survival. This connects directly to modern labor disputes, like Amazon warehouse workers protesting unsafe heat or Starbucks baristas striking for predictable shifts. Then and now, protests show that fairness at work is something people must constantly fight for.

Reading about the riot while watching a modern recreation of the ballet made me understand how deeply it disturbed people. To audiences used to classical harmony, it sounded like noise. This reminded me of debates over AI-generated art today, where people argue it “doesn’t count” as real creativity. Just like Stravinsky, new tools provoke backlash because they break rules, but those moments often end up shaping culture for the future.

Seeing photos of the trams and reports of accidents made me realize how much technology changed the rhythm of city life. People admired the speed and bright lights but also feared losing control. It reminded me of today’s discussions about self-driving cars, which promise convenience but raise questions about safety. Vienna in 1913 showed me that every new technology comes with both wonder and risk.

What stood out to me was how these changes touched ordinary lives in specific places: in Daimler and Siemens factories, in lecture halls at the University of Vienna, in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées during Stravinsky’s ballet, and on Ringstrabe streets lit by arc lamps. Looking at these details helped me connect 1913 to my own time, where debates about labor rights, gender equality, technology, and art are still happening. It made history feel close, not distant.

A photo of The Tempest shows Alma and Kokoschka surrounded by storm-like movement, which feels like a visual version of emotional overload. It reminded me how even today, people sometimes use creativity to deal with feelings they don’t know how to process. Whether it’s songwriting after a breakup or posting emotional art online, pain still pushes people to express themselves.

A photo of Marc animals gives off a quiet, peaceful feeling, like he was trying to protect a softer side of life. It reminds me how people today go on walks, watch nature videos, or visit animal sanctuaries when they feel stressed. Even now, nature feels like a way to slow down when everything else feels too fast.

A photo of an early Ford assembly line shows workers doing the same motion again and again, which looks tiring but also highly systematic. It made me think about how modern life is still driven by speed, like fast technology, instant shipping, and pressure to always be productive. 1913 was already moving toward a lifestyle where everything kept accelerating, even if people were not emotionally ready for it.

A photo of someone sitting alone in a warm summer setting, lost in thought, fits this atmosphere of stillness mixed with uncertainty. It reminds me of times when life feels normal, even though we know something larger might be coming, like the calm months before COVID became serious or quiet news cycles before major global events. These moments often only feel meaningful when we look back and realize how close they were to change.

“Egon Schiele in Gmunden/Altmünster.” Leopold Museum Online Collection,
https://onlinecollection.leopoldmuseum.org/en/object/31835-egon-schiele-in-gmunden-altmunster/.

“August Macke mit seiner Frau Elisabeth und Sohn Walther, 1911.” Wikimedia Commons,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/August_Macke_with_his_wife_Elisabeth_and_son_Walther_in_1911.jpg.

Kokoschka, Oskar. Die Windsbraut (Bride of the Wind / The Tempest). 1913–1914. Wikimedia Commons,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oskar_Kokoschka_-_Die_Windsbraut.jpg.

“Franz Marc reitet sein Pferd, 1913.” Wikimedia Commons,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Franz_Marc_reitet_sein_Pferd_1913.jpg.

“Ford Assembly Line, 1913.” Wikimedia Commons,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Ford_assembly_line_-_1913.jpg.

“Ernst Jünger, 1914.” Wikimedia Commons,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Ernst_J%C3%BCnger_1914.jpg.

The Weissensee Cemetery looks wide, calm, and quiet. It doesn’t show dramatic emotion, but that is how grief often works. It felt similar to how people today still go to school or work while dealing with heavy things. Life keeps moving even when something hurts.

The student magazine from the NYPL archive looks thin and handmade, like something a few classmates would pass around. The quote and the photo both show how starting something doesn’t have to be big. It reminded me of how people today start small YouTube channels, Notes app poetry, playlists, or Instagram pages that only a few friends see. It still counts.

A photograph of Nijinsky performing shows how important he was to the Ballets Russes. Seeing him mid-performance makes the breakup feel bigger because it affected the art itself. It reminded me of how friendships or creative groups today can fall apart fast and that one emotional decision can change everything.

The early 1900s dental chair looks stiff and basic. It shows how ordinary the moment is. The quote and image show how even deep thinking gets interrupted by daily life and inconvenience. It reminded me how stress or sickness today can interrupt work, practice, or creativity. No one gets to escape the body.

A photo of Lake Thun shows still water and clear light. It looks like a place where thoughts can slow down. The image fits the quote because both show how being somewhere peaceful can shift your mood. It reminded me of how going for a walk or changing your surroundings can help reset your mind.

A photo of an artist’s studio lit by afternoon light looks simple and calm. The book and image show how daily habits can build something meaningful over time. It reminded me that improvement often comes from showing up consistently rather than waiting to feel motivated.

“Franz Kafka in Overcoat.” Photographer unknown, c. 1913. Digital image. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

“Bertolt Brecht as a Young Man.” Photographer unknown, c. 1915. Digital image. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

Du côté de chez Swann First Edition. Bernard Grasset, 1913. Digital image of physical book. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig. Woodcut Portrait, c. 1913. Digital reproduction of original print. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

“Writer at Desk with Flying Pages.” Artist unknown. Digital illustration. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

“Winter Train Station, Early 1900s.” Photographer unknown. Digital image. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.