Woman and Artist: Grillparzer's Sappho Revisited

Abstract

Since it was first performed in 1818, the tragic fate of Grillparzer's Sappho has been interpreted primarily in two ways: either as the result of the artist's betrayal of her calling through descent into life's occasionally murky depths or as the only acceptable exit left for a jealous woman who is incidentally an artist.' These expositions accentuate a dualism of character which compartmentalizes Sappho into single, isolated and apparently fully contained components: successful artist or jealous woman in love. While these approaches are useful in distilling different aspects of Grillparzer's theme, they ignore the complexity and totality of the title character. The fundamental mistake of the critics is that of taking the opposition of art and life for granted and of ignoring those discordant elements in the play which don't fit their dualistic conception of Sappho's personality. Implicit in this notion is an unquestioning acceptance of the Cartesian duality between mind and body, between spirituality and sexuality, which has had a lasting impact on Western culture and literature.2 In addition, this notion is accompanied by an uncritical acceptance of the separation between art and life as something natural.