Der weibliche Eremitenblick auf das Theater der Welt, edited for the first time, introduces the Silesian writer Sigismunde Uhtke who, at the threshold of modernity, sketches a progressive model of femininity, designed to shape decisively the transformation of self and society. Uhtke's text thus becomes a testimony to the time of change, when firmly established norms are questioned and feminine writing goes beyond a gender-specific ideology. With her appeal to piety, reason, and feeling, she advocates a catalog of virtues that is based on the ability to think independently and act ethically and morally, which includes the freedom to choose an albeit unconventional life that allows the development of female agency.

Roswitha Burwick is professor emerita of Scripps College where she held the Distinguished Chair of Modern Foreign Languages. Her areas of research are German romanticism, especially Achim von Arnim, whose writings in natural science and collected essays she edited in the Weimarer Arnim-Edition (WAA II and III). Her publications include essays on Achim von Arnim, Bettina von Arnim, Günderrode and fairy tales. She is the Vice President of the Internationale Arnim-Gesellschaft and editor of the Neue Zeitung für Einsiedler.