Polite Hauntings: Same-Sex Eroticism in Sophie Albrecht's Das höfliche Gespenst

Abstract

This article analyzes Sophie Albrecht's Das höfliche Gespenst (1797) as a text that employs Gothic motifs to explore queer identity and female same-sex eroticism. The article first identifies the queer nature of the female protagonists and their relationship. It then examines how queer desire is thematized through communicative difficulties, including the excessively polite language referenced in the title. It concludes by exploring the role of the embedded narrative in vilifying queer desire from the perspective of heteronormative society. In doing so, this Gothic text allows moments of female same-sex desire but ultimately reinstates a patriarchal viewpoint that silences queer possibilities.