“[U]nd Effi, Gott, unsere arme Effi ist ein Naturkind”: Effi Briest (1894) and the Early Romantic Ideal of Femininity in Lucinde (1799)
Abstract
This article proposes an analysis of Effi Briest’s protagonist based on the model of femininity from Early Romanticism. Fontane's characterization of his heroine at the beginning of the novel as Naturkind allows us to put her in relation to Romantic characters such as Lucinde, the female figure whose name renders the title of Friedrich Schlegel's experimental novel published in 1799. To conduct this study, I will first explore Schlegel's understanding of sexes, as well as his ideal of humanity and of womanhood through his theoretical writings, in order to examine the characterization of Lucinde and the similarities that Effi Briest shares with her. This comparison will evidence Effi’s attachment to Schlegel’s groundbreaking Romantic model of womanhood presented a century earlier.
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