The Melancholy (Pro)creation of Franziska zu Reventlow and Gabriele Reuter

This article examines two semi-autobiographical novels dealing with single motherhood—Franziska zu Reventlow's Ellen Olestjerne (1903) and Gabriele Reuter's Das Tränenhaus (The House of Tears, 1909)—and demonstrates how both novels refract contemporary discussions of melancholy through the lens of women's experiences as mothers and artists. In contrast to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century medical accounts of melancholic illness, the novels attribute melancholic symptoms not primarily to biological causes, but rather to familial, financial, and societal factors that stand in the way of women's aspirations. At the same time, the novels appropriate the notion of the melancholic temperament in order to elevate women's sadness and thereby link creativity and motherhood. (LH)