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 salonni�res.