Fervor and Fiction

This book explores the neglected figure of Therese von Bacheracht (1804-52); widely travelled in Europe, the Middle East and Russia, she was acquainted with many of the leading figures of her day, including Goethe, Liszt and members of the Bonaparte family. The most important themes of her writings are the injustice suffered by women in Germany and elsewhere; the institution of marriage; and corruption at the courts of the ruling despots in her homeland, with indifference to the suffering of their subjects, aggravated by conditions in the factories of the industrial revolution. Professor Powell traces the life and environment of Therese; discusses her fiction; reproduces her impressions of contemporary European literature, theatre and fine art; and considers her ideas on education and the human condition. Taken together, the works also provide much information about the day-to-day fabric of life in nineteeth-century Germany, especially in their manifold references to, among others, George Sand, Gluck, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer and Strauss.