Women of the Danish Golden Age
Literature, Theater and the Emancipation of Women
9788763539135
Distributed for Museum Tusculanum Press
Women of the Danish Golden Age
Literature, Theater and the Emancipation of Women
This broad, interdisciplinary work explores the often overlooked contributions of women to the cultural life of the Danish Golden Age. Featuring chapters on novelist Thomasine Gyllembourg, actress Johanne Luise Heiberg, and feminist writer Mathilde Fibiger, it spans three generations of women from the early to late Golden Age, examining the perceived proper role of women in Danish society at the time, including an examination of views by male Golden Age writers and thinkers such as Søren Kierkegaard and Hans Lassen Martensen. Offering a panorama of personalities, literary texts, theater performances, artworks, and sociopolitical debates, Women of the Danish Golden Age is a rich appreciation of the importance of women to Denmark’s cultural life during one of its most flourishing periods.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Preface
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction: Women of the Danish Golden Age
1. Thomasine Gyllembourg and the Danish Novel
I. Thomasine Gyllembourg: An Overview of Her Life and Works
II. Two Ages and the Portrayal of Everyday Life
III. Kierkegaard on Thomasine Gyllembourg
2. The Heibergs and the Royal Theater
I. Danish Society Between 1800 and 1850
II. Johan Ludvig Heiberg’s Life
III. The Heibergs’ Theory of Aesthetics and the Theater
IV. The Influence of the Heibergs on Renowned Contemporaries and the Decline of the Heiberg School
V. The Influence of the Heibergs and the Theater on Danish Culture
3. Johanne Luise Heiberg’s Acting and Kierkegaard
I. Johanne Luise Heiberg’s Life and Works
II. Johanne Luise Heiberg’s Scenic Art and Kierkegaard’s View of It
4. Mathilde Fibiger and the Emancipation of Women
I. Mathilde Fibiger’s Life
II. The Novel Clara Raphael
III. The Clara Raphael Controversy
IV. Heiberg and Mathilde Fibiger
V. Heiberg’s Views on the Question of the Emancipation of Women as a Part of His General Political Views
5. Kierkegaard’s View of Mathilde Fibiger and the Emancipation of Women
I. Kierkegaard on the Emancipation of Women
II. Kierkegaard on Clara Raphael
III. Critical Evaluation
6. Martensen’s View on the Emancipation of Women in Christian Ethics
I. The Two Forms of Emancipation
II. Martensen’s Essentialism
III. The Results of the Essentialist View for the Social-Political Order
IV. Martensen’s Appeal to Christianity
V. A Final Qualification: Martensen’s View of Women in the Workforce
7. The Enduring Legacy of the Women of the Golden Age
3. Johanne Luise Heiberg’s Acting and Kierkegaard
I. Johanne Luise Heiberg’s Life and Works
II. Johanne Luise Heiberg’s Scenic Art and Kierkegaard’s View of It
4. Mathilde Fibiger and the Emancipation of Women
I. Mathilde Fibiger’s Life
II. The Novel Clara Raphael
III. The Clara Raphael Controversy
IV. Heiberg and Mathilde Fibiger
V. Heiberg’s Views on the Question of the Emancipation of Women as a Part of His General Political Views
5. Kierkegaard’s View of Mathilde Fibiger and the Emancipation of Women
I. Kierkegaard on the Emancipation of Women
II. Kierkegaard on Clara Raphael
III. Critical Evaluation
6. Martensen’s View on the Emancipation of Women in Christian Ethics
I. The Two Forms of Emancipation
II. Martensen’s Essentialism
III. The Results of the Essentialist View for the Social-Political Order
IV. Martensen’s Appeal to Christianity
V. A Final Qualification: Martensen’s View of Women in the Workforce
7. The Enduring Legacy of the Women of the Golden Age
Bibliography
Index of Persons
Index of Subjects