Women and Their Vocation: A Nineteenth-Century View by Luise Buchner

Writing in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1848, Luise Büchner argued strongly for the reform of women’s education in her best-known work, Women and Their Vocation. Although she accepted the nineteenth-century view of the primacy of home and family for women, she believed that an appropriate education was necessary for the development of a woman’s skills and intellect. Only then could women make their fullest contribution to society, whether through their influence within the family circle, or by acting in the public sphere. Women and Their Vocation presents a translation of Büchner’s essay and an introduction to her life and the issues related to a woman’s role in nineteenth-century Germany.

The Translator: Susan L. Piepke received her Doctorate in Modern Languages (DML) from Middlebury College. Since 1988 she has taught German and Spanish at Bridgewater College, Virginia, where she is Professor of Foreign Languages. Her publications include essays on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and on several German writers including Grillparzer, Raabe, and Dürrenmatt. Her recent research focuses on nineteenth-century German women writers.