Portraits of Women in Selected Works of Gabriele Reuter

Known primarily for the novel, Aus guter Familie, Gabriele Reuter has not yet been accorded the attention she deserves for her contribution to German literature in general and women’s writing in particular. The precisely observed portraits of women in the novels discussed in this volume allow us to experience the complex interplay of societal norms and individual needs which shape feminine existence. Among the themes treated are misguided motherhood, the virtue of the unwed mother, the conflict between the will to be and the need to love and be loved, woman’s role in the political sphere and a comparison of womanhood in two generations. One of the enduring pleasures of reading Reuter is the rich variety of female characters from the early part of the twentieth century.