Annette von Droste-Hülshoff Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Elisabeth Krimmer

Critical Essay by Elisabeth Krimmer

SOURCE: Krimmer, Elisabeth. “A Perfect Intimacy with Death: Death, Imagination, and Femininity in the Works of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.” Women in German Yearbook 17 (2001): 121-40.

In the following essay, Krimmer maintains that Droste-Hülshoff used the theme of death in her work to address and gain some control over the fragmented identity that characterizes much of her writing. Focusing on the works Bertha and Ledwina, Krimmer observes Droste-Hülshoff confronting death as both an imminent reality (because of her physical frailty) and a symbol for the potentially destructive power of the imagination.

Mich graute, doch ich sprach dem Grauen Hohn, Ich hielt das Bild in Reimes Netz gefangen Und frevelnd wagt' ich aus der Totenkron Ein Lorbeerblatt zu langen.

—Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

I shuddered but defied the fear, Captured the image in the net of rhymes And blasphemously I dared to reach For laurel from the crown of death.(1) ...
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