Sophie Mereau is a fascinating figure in Early German Romanticism: active in Jena during its peak cultural ferment, she was prominent in its literary and philosophical circles and became one of the most successful women writers of her time. This paper examines her earliest prose works – Das Blütenalter der Empfindung (1794) and the fragment Briefe von Amanda und Eduard (1797). It aims to highlight Mereau’s extensive engagement with the contemporary philosophical discourse, especially Kant, by tr…
Read moreSophie Mereau is a fascinating figure in Early German Romanticism: active in Jena during its peak cultural ferment, she was prominent in its literary and philosophical circles and became one of the most successful women writers of her time. This paper examines her earliest prose works – Das Blütenalter der Empfindung (1794) and the fragment Briefe von Amanda und Eduard (1797). It aims to highlight Mereau’s extensive engagement with the contemporary philosophical discourse, especially Kant, by tracing the presence (and original reworking) of two themes in particular: the issue of individual development (Bildung) and the definition of the authentic human vocation. Mereau’s approach combines ideas and motifs from German Classicism and Early Romanticism, as well as from the philosophy of the Late German Enlightenment. This unique combination allows her to address some of the most significant philosophical issues of her time from a unique point of view. Keywords: individual development, human vocation, Sophie Mereau, early Romanticism, Enlightenment.
