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Chapter 8 - A Fragile Self

Women’s Point of View

from Part IV - The Romantic Self

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2026

Giulia Valpione
Affiliation:
École Normale Supérieure, Paris
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Summary

This chapter is devoted to the Romantic women philosophers, and it groups their reflections on subjectivity. This chapter aims to identify a common thread that unites these women thinkers and contributes to the understanding of the Romantic Self. Despite the diversity of their perspectives, they shared a common understanding of the self as shaped by relationships with others and nature, and as incapable of imposing herself on them, a view that echoes arguments presented by the men philosophers of Romanticism. However, these women thinkers tend to focus on a particular point: the possibility for the self to create a space for her own voice and, on occasion, her actions. After the explanation of Sophie Mereau’s notion of agency, and the differences between her and Caroline Schlegel-Schelling’s political thought, the chapter focuses on Mereau’s and de Staël’s interpretations of Fichte's philosophy and their idea of autonomy. The role of memory and love in Sophie Tieck's and Dorothea Veit’s conception of the self is then analysed. The chapter closes with Günderrode’s and Bettina von Arnim’s notion of subjectivity, and its relationship with nature and society.

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  • A Fragile Self
  • Giulia Valpione, École Normale Supérieure, Paris
  • Book: The Romantic Self
  • Online publication: 25 May 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009571517.009
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  • A Fragile Self
  • Giulia Valpione, École Normale Supérieure, Paris
  • Book: The Romantic Self
  • Online publication: 25 May 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009571517.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A Fragile Self
  • Giulia Valpione, École Normale Supérieure, Paris
  • Book: The Romantic Self
  • Online publication: 25 May 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009571517.009
Available formats
×