German Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Abstract
My comparative analysis of Lessing's Miß Sara Sampson, Sophie von La Roche's Geschichte des Fräulein von Sternheim, and Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werther elicits how the concept of love changes during the Enlightenment period. These literary texts mark the end of the art of gallantry and seduction and introduce a new understanding of love which emphasizes authenticity and self-validation. The texts by Lessing and La Roche struggle directly with intrigue and seduction, which threaten not only the innocence of "father's only daughter," but‑‑because communication itself becomes a suspect and inherently unreliable undertaking‑‑also threatens the very foundation of reason, civility, and society. In both texts, it is the authoritative voice of the father which restores and guarantees the authenticity of the lover's discourse. In comparison to these two texts, the almost complete absence of persuasion and seduction in Goethe's Werther is striking. This absence, however, does not mean that the problematic status of communication is ignored; rather, Werther acknowledges the paradoxical situation encountered by any attempt to communicate love in its authenticity and immediacy and puts this problem at the center of its love experience as well as its reflections on art and poetry.
Copyright Statement
Post-print
Repository Citation
Landgraf, Edgar, "Romantic Love and the Enlightenment: From Gallantry and Seduction to Authenticity and Self-Validation" (2004). German Faculty Publications. 1.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/german_pub/1
Publication Date
Winter 2004
Publication Title
Comparative Literature
Start Page No.
29
End Page No.
46
Works cited