Elise Reimarus's "Cato":
The Canon of the Enlightenment Revisited
Almut Spalding, Illinois College
One of the most intriguing female figures of the German late Enlightenment
was Margaretha Elisabeth ("Elise") Reimarus (1735-1805), not only
because she personally interacted with practically every other Enlightenment
leader, but also because she actively contributed to the movement
in her own right. Since 1838, when Karl Lachmann (1793-1851) first
published G. E. Lessing's (1729-81) correspondence, it has been a matter
of public record that Reimarus had composed the drama "Cato," that she
had sent Lessing the manuscript for review, and that Lessing died while
it was in his care. The classic figure of Cato is well known to have been
a favorite subject of the Enlightenment, and Lessing's correspondence
has been combed through many times for details on the life and works of
other contemporary figures, yet Reimarus's "Cato" has gone completely
unnoticed. All the more noteworthy is the fact that the prose rendition
survives in entirety, as do two scenes that Reimarus rewrote in blank verse.
Using the exemplary case of Reimarus's "Cato," this paper discusses typical
dynamics that shaped the literary canon of the Enlightenment. Not
surprisingly, the transmitted canon reflects a narrower perspective and
less diversity than was typical of the Enlightenment in its own time, particularly
with regard to women who participated in the movement as
authors and salonniČres.
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