A Perfect Intimacy with Death: Death, Imagination, and Femininity in the Works of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

This article investigates the complex interrelation between death, femininity, and art in Annette von Droste-Hülshoff's work. It traces a development from Droste's early works, in which creative expression of the female protagonist is associated with disease, death, and madness, to her later works, in which Droste has succeeded in breaking up the fear-inspiring entanglement of death and creativity by creating a dead muse for herself. Particular attention is devoted to Droste's drama fragment Bertha oder die Alpen and her prose fragment Ledwina. (EK)