The Piano Teacher (novel)

The Piano Teacher (German: Die Klavierspielerin) is a novel by Austrian Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, first published in 1983 by Rowohlt Verlag.

The novel follows protagonist Erika Kohut, a sexually and emotionally repressed piano teacher, as she enters into a sadomasochistic relationship with her student, Walter Klemmer, the results of which are disastrous. The book features many unusual stylistic elements, like the near-constant capitalization of words (such as "her") that refer back to the protagonist. Also, like much of Jelinek's work, the chronology of the events in the book are interwoven with images of the past and the internal thoughts of characters.

While the English work was titled The Piano Teacher, the title in German means "the piano player." It is also clear that the player is female.

The novel was adapted into a 2001 film of the same name, directed by Michael Haneke.

Plot synopsis

The novel follows Erika Kohut, a piano teacher in her late thirties who teaches at the Vienna Conservatory and still lives in an apartment with her very controlling mother, who Erika shares her parents' marriage bed with. The very strained relationship between Erika and her mother is made clear in the opening scene, in which Erika rips out some of her mother's hair when her mother attempts to take away a new dress that Erika has purchased for herself. Erika's mother wishes the money to be used toward a new, future apartment with her, and resents Erika's spending of her money on possessions distinctly for herself; her mother cannot wear Erika's clothing. Erika herself does not wear it, but merely strokes it admiringly at night.

Erika expresses this latent violence as well and need for control in many other scenes throughout the book. Erika takes large instruments on trains so that she can hit people with them and call it an accident, or kicks or steps on the feet of other passengers so that she can watch them blame someone else. She also has fascination with voyeurism. She often views peep shows and pornography on her way home from work. When she catches a couple having sex in a park, Erika is so affected that she urinates. As well, a memory of a visit from her cousins as a child, in which her mother takes delight in the handsome cousin as he enjoys his day, but forces Erika to practice piano, results in Erika's self-mutilation.

Walter Klemmer, an engineering student, is introduced very early on. He comes early to class and watches Erika perform. He eventually becomes Erika's student and develops a desire for his instructor. Erika sees love as a means of rebellion or escape from her mother and thus seeks complete control in the relationship, always telling Klemmer carefully what he must do to her, although she is a sexual masochist. The tensions build within the relationship as Klemmer finds himself more and more uncomfortable by the control, and eventually Klemmer beats and rapes Erika in her own apartment, her mother in the next room. When Erika visits Klemmer after the rape and finds him laughing and happy, she stabs herself in the shoulder and returns home.