University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2013 Shattering Fragility: Illness, Suicide, and Refusal in Fin-De-Siècle Viennese Literature Melanie Jessica Adley University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the German Literature Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Adley, Melanie Jessica, "Shattering Fragility: Illness, Suicide, and Refusal in Fin-De-Siècle Viennese Literature" (2013). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 729. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/729 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/729 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Shattering Fragility: Illness, Suicide, and Refusal in Fin-De-Siècle Viennese Literature Abstract How fragile is the femme fragile and what does it mean to shatter her fragility? Can there be resistance or even strength in fragility, which would make it, in turn, capable of shattering? I propose that the fragility embodied by young women in fin-de-siècle Vienna harbored an intentionality that signaled refusal. A confluence of factors, including psychoanalysis and hysteria, created spaces for the fragile to find a voice. These bourgeois women occupied a liminal zone between increased access to opportunities, both educational and political, and traditional gender expectations in the home. Although in the late nineteenth century the femme fragile arose as a literary and artistic type who embodied a wan, ethereal beauty marked by delicacy and a passivity that made her more object than authoritative subject, there were signs that illness and suicide could be effectively employed to reject societal mores. I offer a queer feminist reading of writing on and by women in Vienna 1900 that complicates our understanding of female subjectivity and sexuality at the time. My study explores works by both canonical male authors--Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Stefan Zweig--and less known female authors--Betty Kris, Else Kotányi, Elsa Asenijeff, making a necessary contribution to existing scholarship on fin-de-siècle Vienna and to feminist criticism that aims to uncover overlooked texts by women. Furthermore, the dissertation is an example of how a queer feminist methodology serves literary analysis by providing new questions and entry points when approaching both canonical and less known texts and figures. Part one, "Fragility," establishes the foundation for understanding feminine fragility in fin-de-siècle Vienna. Chapter one provides an overview of women in Vienna 1900 and outlines their options at the time, while chapter two locates the Viennese hysteric in a history of hysteria and of the femme fragile. Divided into three chapters, part two, "Shattered," considers literary suicide and death as a kind of feminine strategy of refusal. Throughout I address the role writing plays in a fragility that both shatters and has been shattered: letters, diaries, case studies all contribute to a newly complicated fragility. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Germanic Languages and Literature First Advisor Catriona MacLeod Subject Categories German Literature | Women's Studies This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/729 SHATTERING FRAGILITY: ILLNESS, SUICIDE, AND REFUSAL IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE VIENNESE LITERATURE Melanie Jessica Adley A DISSERTATION in Germanic Languages and Literatures Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Supervisor of Dissertation ________________________ Catriona MacLeod Professor of German Graduate Group Chairperson __________________________ Simon Richter, Professor of German Dissertation Committee Heather Love, Associate Professor of English Jean-Michel Rabaté, Professor of English and Comparative Literature Simon Richter, Professor of German SHATTERING FRAGILITY: ILLNESS, SUICIDE, AND REFUSAL IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE VIENNESE LITERATURE COPYRIGHT 2013 Melanie Jessica Adley This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ny-sa/2.0/ For Peter and Sabine Adley iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing a dissertation is a funny thing. It is a deeply personal endeavor, requiring much introspection, isolation, and long lonely hours. But it is also a work destined for a greater public (if even a very small one) and its completion is reliant on all forms of support. Fredric Jameson tells us “history is what hurts.” I do not think there is a single academic who would not locate some pain and embarrassment in their scholarly past: “smart” can denote a sharp, stinging pain as much as it does intelligence. I find myself looking back at the path I have followed to get to this finished dissertation and at all the help I have received along the way: it has not all been painful—far from it. The generous financial support of the University of Pennsylvania SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship provided me with the gift of one final year to complete my dissertation. Over the years, my research has been supported by the Phyllis Rackin Graduate Fellowship for Feminist Scholarship in the Humanities, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures’ Jusserand Fellowship, and twice by the Dean’s Summer Fellowship. The DAAD funded my participation at the Fourth International Marbacher Sommerschule/DAAD Meisterklasse "Menschen Beschreiben" at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach, where I happened upon the text, Vera’s Eine für Viele, that would become the center of my dissertation. I am grateful to the DLA and Marcel Lepper for wonderful resources and for inviting me back to present an early stage of chapter 4. My work benefitted too from the fascinating holdings at the Sammlung Frauennachlässe in Vienna. The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pennsylvania was my home for 6 years. I am thankful for inspiring and supportive faculty and colleagues. Caroline, Kerry, Matt, and the honorary department member Leif have been both top- notch peers and also great friends. So, too, dear Jos across the hall in Comp Lit. My dissertation committee members—Heather Love, Simon Richter, and Jean-Michel Rabaté—have provided excellent feedback on my project and have helped me shape the way I see my work. The Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program provided a second home and safe space for me on campus. I would like to thank Shannon Lundeen for being both a role model and friend. I honestly do not know if I would have been able to finish my dissertation if it were not for my advisor Catriona MacLeod, whose concern, support, encouragement, advice, and humor have made all the difference in the world. I will never be able to thank her enough and I am afraid this dissertation does not do justice to her great insight and intellect. Beyond Penn I have been blessed with brilliant, encouraging, and patient friends. Alexis, Alice, Cailean, Corey, Elisha, Emma, John, and Paula: I would like to thank them all from the bottom of my heart for not giving up on me, especially this last year. I would like to thank David for encouraging me and reading my work early on in this process. Sarah has been an incredibly supportive friend and exceptional critic. Especially in this last push, Sarah has both kept me sane and on the ball. It is hard to put into words how lucky I am to have met SAG two years ago. Like Catriona, he picked me up when I was very low and sat me down in front of my dissertation insisting I keep at it. He commented on innumerable drafts, offered a fine combination of wit and sharp criticism, and always made me laugh. Finally, I would like to turn to my family. I thank my wonderful parents Sabine and Peter for their love and for their understanding of this strange pursuit I chose quite independently. And, of course, without Effi, Firlefanz, and Sosi I would never have made it this far. iv ABSTRACT SHATTERING FRAGILITY: ILLNESS, SUICIDE, AND REFUSAL IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE VIENNESE LITERATURE Melanie Jessica Adley Catriona MacLeod How fragile is the femme fragile and what does it mean to shatter her fragility? Can there be resistance or even strength in fragility, which would make it, in turn, capable of shattering? I propose that the fragility embodied by young women in fin-de-siècle Vienna harbored an intentionality that signaled refusal. A confluence of factors, including psychoanalysis and hysteria, created spaces for the fragile to find a voice. These bourgeois women occupied a liminal zone between increased access to opportunities, both educational and political, and traditional gender expectations in the home. Although in the late nineteenth century the femme fragile arose as a literary and artistic type who embodied a wan, ethereal beauty marked by delicacy and a passivity that made her more object than authoritative subject, there were signs that illness and suicide could be effectively employed to reject societal mores. I offer a queer feminist reading of writing on and by women in Vienna 1900 that complicates our understanding of female subjectivity and sexuality at the time. My study explores works by both canonical male authors—Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Stefan Zweig—and less known female authors—Betty Kris, Else Kotányi, Elsa Asenijeff, making a necessary contribution to existing scholarship on fin-de-siècle Vienna and to feminist criticism that aims to uncover overlooked texts by women. Furthermore, the dissertation is an example of how a queer feminist methodology serves literary analysis by providing new questions and entry points when approaching both canonical and less known texts and figures. Part one, “Fragility,” establishes the foundation for understanding feminine fragility in fin-de-siècle Vienna. Chapter one provides an overview of women in Vienna 1900 and outlines their options at the time, while chapter two locates the Viennese hysteric in a history of hysteria and of the femme fragile.