I had never heard of Louise Aston and I think that is so, so outrageous. I'm pretty sure that if she had been English (or American?) she would have been quite famous and I'm pondering the reasons why this is not the case in Germany. I once read an article on the way how German suffragettes were treated and how they are seen (or rather not seen) today, and I really need to dig that out and learn more about the topic. Of course she was not a suffragette because she lived a few decades too early for that, but her mindset was quite similar.
She was born Louise Hoche in 1814 and was married to Samuel Aston, a factory owner from England who lived in Germany (hence the English surname). It was not a happy marriage and they got a divorce. She moved to Berlin in 1844 where she was part of intellectual circles and literary clubs. Moreover, she wore men's clothes, smoked in the streets and did not go to church. The scandal!!!
Because of this behavior and the "bad influence" she was said to have on other women, she was banned from Berlin. After pleading and trying to persuade the authorities and even the King of Prussia to let her stay, she wrote a polemic that contained an explanation of her circumstances, her biography and how she was treated by Berlin's authorities. She shows how women were dealt with at the time and how little her options to lead the life she wished for were.
The book consists of this polemic ("Meine Emancipation") and also of 24 poems. Twelve of them were published in a book the same year she fought for her right to stay in Berlin, the other twelve were published in a magazine she edited during the German revolution of 1848. Both poetry collections contain poems on love (Aston's vision of free love that is not bound by marriage, conventions or force), poems on Germany's political situation (fighting for democracy and free speech) and poems on the situation of women. The one that touched me the most is written from a female weaver's point of view who is very poor, lost her father and her sweetheart, needs to take care of her sick mother and sister and fears for her salvation when her boss wants to give her a piece of gold for a three nights stay in his bed. It reminded me of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel "Ruth" and I can only admire Louise Aston's bravery and strength to publish a poem like that in the 1840s.
The poems are not the most beautiful to read and to me they have a sort of wooden and rigid feeling that many German classics have. But there are a few gems (including one dedicated to George Sand!) and their voice and relevance is so important. ( )