Androgyny as an Ideal in Louis Couperus and Hugo Claus

Abstract

In this article we first discuss androgyny in art around 1900 and some of the related religious and philosophical background; then we show what can be found on this subject in Couperus, especially in his novel De berg van licht (‘The Mountain of Light’, 1905/06) and in the work of Hugo Claus, the Flemish author, who deals with this theme as well. The similarity between these authors reaches a climax in the novel Jessica!, in which Claus introduces a character, Louis Kuppers, who is entirely based on his great predecessor from the fin de siècle. Claus frequently quotes from Couperus’ work. Although Couperus and Claus seem to be totally different authors, we conclude that they both consider androgyny to be an ideal.