Description
Book SynopsisPresents an analysis of the contradictory obsession with female virginity and idealization of maternal nature in Germany from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. Lauren Nossett explores how the ideal of woman as both a sexless and maternal being led to the creation of a unique figure in German literature: the virginal mother.
Trade ReviewThe Virginal Mother in German Culture is a very compelling, well-organized, and detailed analysis of the contradictory and developing tensions between eighteenth to twentieth century fascinations with virginity and the idealization of maternal nature in Germany. It is a unique and field-transforming study."" - Susan Gustafson, author of
Goethe's Families of the HeartTable of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. The Creation of the Virginal Mother: Sophie von La Roche’s The History of Lady Sophia Sternheim
- 2. The Ideal Virgin and Failed Mother: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, and Faust I
- 3. The Popular Virginal Mother: E. Marlitt’s The Old Maid’s Secret and The Second Wife
- 4. The “Real” Virginal Mother: Caregiving and Motherhood in the Autobiographies of Hedwig Dohm, Adelheid Popp, and Ottilie Baader
- 5. The Virginal Mother of Orphans and the Vamp Anti-Mother: Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
