Stefan Zweig is one of those writers who explores the fragility and inner conflicts of the human soul with profound psychological insight. In his work Fear, he examines the mechanisms of guilt and anxiety that grow within the individual’s inner world, using what appears to be an ordinary story of betrayal.
This article will explain how the fear experienced by the main character, Irene, stems not only from an external threat but primarily from an internal sense of guilt and superego pressure. First, Irene’s experience of guilt will be examined from a psychoanalytic perspective; then the cognitive and emotional dimensions of anxiety will be explored; and finally, how fear transforms the character’s sense of self will be discussed.
In the work, Irene is a married woman of high social standing; however, her mental balance begins to deteriorate when she enters into an extramarital affair. The possibility of the affair being exposed creates a growing fear within her. Viewed through the lens of Freud’s structural personality theory, Irene’s intense anxiety can be explained by the pressure of the superego.
The superego represents the individual’s internalised moral rules and social norms. Irene’s act of infidelity conflicts with her internal moral system. Even though there is no definite threat in the external world, her internal judgement mechanism begins to punish her. In this context, fear is fuelled not only by the possibility of being caught, but also by an unconscious process of self-punishment.
Irene’s fear gradually exceeds rational limits and transforms into a form of anxiety bordering on paranoia. As a result, she begins to interpret every glance she encounters and every minor detail as a threat. From a cognitive psychology perspective, this situation can be explained by cognitive distortions such as catastrophising and selective attention. Irene focuses on the worst possible scenario, constantly generating a threat in her mind. As her anxiety increases, her perception of reality narrows and her thought cycle intensifies. Here, fear becomes more of an internal mental production than an external event.
Furthermore, the process Irene experiences is closely linked to a sense of loss of control. Initially believing she could maintain a secret relationship, Irene feels she has lost control of her life as her perception of threat increases. She exhibits avoidance behaviours; she withdraws from people, lives constantly on edge, and her inner turmoil intensifies. The physiological symptoms of anxiety—palpitations, restlessness, tension—combine with psychological pressure to drive her character into psychological disintegration. At this point, fear ceases to be merely an emotion and becomes a fundamental experience that shapes Irene’s identity. She no longer perceives herself as a strong and controlled individual, but rather as a fragile being under constant threat.
Another noteworthy aspect here is that fear is actually more a product of internal conflict than external reality. The person threatening Irene is real; however, the scale of the threat is not as great as Irene has magnified it in her mind. What truly wears her down is her inability to face her own actions and process her guilt in a healthy way. In this respect, the work shows that guilt, when suppressed, can turn into anxiety, and anxiety can turn into paranoia. The fear Irene experiences is a manifestation of suppressed emotions rising to the surface of consciousness.
In conclusion, Stefan Zweig’s Fear is not merely a tale of deception, but a profound psychological analysis that explores the fragility of the human spirit in the face of guilt and anxiety. Irene’s experience reveals how the pressure of the superego can create intense internal punishment for the individual and how this process, combined with cognitive distortions, can distort the perception of reality. Zweig shows that the source of fear often lies not in the external world, but within the individual’s own inner world.