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Herlinde Cayzer
The University of Queensland
“Most certainly! Man must rule and woman must obey
– to this she is born”.
How does this nineteenth-century tenet relate to the subjugation of the general population?
Against this historical background which was based on wide-spread misogyny and thus fostered gender inequity, nineteenth-century German aristocrat Gräfin Ida von Hahn-Hahn dared to publicly voice her critique of traditional and segregated gender roles. She depicted in her narrative Gräfin Faustine a spirited heroine who confronted an environment that adhered to a mentality of male dominance. The protagonist Faustine is characterised as an independent and emancipated woman as expressed in a collision between
the very main stream male sentiments, as quoted in this heading, of her brother-in-law and her avant-garde paroxysm. My findings so far show that through a detailed textual reading of Hahn-Hahn's criticism of her society messages are revealed to her readership within the “rigid confines of [nineteenth century] principles” (Iser 7). As such Hahn-Hahn's critique in response to female subjugation includes the depiction of a daringly non-conforming female heroine. Her literary technique involves the use of different and differing narrators. These voices describe defiant unconventionality through sensational gender role reversals and by way of direct criticism of patriarchal hegemony. The clear demarcation between the oppressive male and the oppressed female is portrayed in didactic manner by a male instituted system whose roots have been entrenched for centuries by state and church. However, Faustine eventually sells out to social conformity. Unlike the eponymous Faust, who sells himself to the devil, Faustine sells her Self and her independence in return for matrimony with ensuing motherhood. In due course she breaks this matrimonial bond, an act that contravenes society's rules and a deed that will find its redemption in her death. Yet, this final act is one of defiance rather than one of conformity and therein we find Hahn-Hahn's ultimate narrative victory in the cause of emancipation
Bio: Herlinde Cayzer is a PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland. She is a recipient of an APA scholarship who commenced her undergraduate and honours studies part time as a full time employed mature age student.
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