3. Writers from German Lands

This chapter reviews 31 women writers, 1776-1848, from German lands, since Germany in this period did not exist. The period traces the fall of the thousand-year-old Holy Roman Empire and the emergence of the German Confederation, after a period of Napoleonic occupation. Writers range from pro- to anti-French, from aristocrats to proletarians, from duchesses to revolutionaries. A wide variety of genres is represented, from lyric poetry to translation to romance to theatre. Divorce is common among these emancipated women, and suicide is not unknown.