Caroline von Beulwitz began writing her first novel, Agnes von Lilien, in 1793.
The novel describes a young woman raised by a stepfather and growing up in isolation in the countryside, poor but educated in both classical and modern learning.
A meeting with a much older and wealthier man, with whom she falls in love, begins a process of discovery of the world at large, including the politics and scandals of court life.
Agnes eventually discovers that her own background, previously unknown to her, ties her closely to that world, which she eventually embraces.
As one critic has said, despite its interest in female subjectivity, "Agnes von Lilien is less about the establishment of a new society than it is about the restoration of the old to new legitimacy."

In 1795, Schiller began a new periodical called Die Horen, which would contain articles on philosophy and history as well as fiction, organized around the central tenets of Weimar classicism.
Knowing his sister-in-law was writing, Schiller asked for a submission, and Agnes von Lilien was published anonymously in Die Horen in installments, from 1796 to 1797.
This publication, and its eventual publication as a two-volume novel (still anonymous) in 1798, led to considerable attention for the novel, and speculation as to its author's identity.
Some believed it was a work of Schiller's, and others a work of Goethe's, though Friedrich Schlegel was quick to dismiss the latter claim.
The fuss eventually led to the revelation of its true author, who was treated to much celebration, albeit short-lived.

After this brief burst of activity and fame, Caroline's literary output greatly slowed, and her other major works were written at a much later date, toward the end of her life.
She and the other women writers included in Die Horen demonstrated a new potential for both aesthetically and commercially successful writing by women, but the ultimate role of women in the Weimar circle, and the intellectual legacy of works like Agnes von Lilien, has been debated.
Critic Peter McIsaac has observed that, though they included women writers in Die Horen, Schiller and Goethe wrote of expunging their "feminine" qualities, and continued to regard works by women as "dilettantish" and belonging to a lower form than their own work.
The novel was republished in 1988, and has gotten much more widespread and sympathetic treatment since.
Caroline von Beulwitz began writing her first novel, Agnes von Lilien, in 1793. The novel describes a young woman raised by a stepfather and growing up in isolation in the countryside, poor but educated in both classical and modern learning. A meeting with a much older and wealthier man, with whom she falls in love, begins a process of discovery of the world at large, including the politics and scandals of court life. Agnes eventually discovers that her own background, previously unknown to her, ties her closely to that world, which she eventually embraces. As one critic has said, despite its interest in female subjectivity, "Agnes von Lilien is less about the establishment of a new society than it is about the restoration of the old to new legitimacy."
In 1795, Schiller began a new periodical called Die Horen, which would contain articles on philosophy and history as well as fiction, organized around the central tenets of Weimar classicism. Knowing his sister-in-law was writing, Schiller asked for a submission, and Agnes von Lilien was published anonymously in Die Horen in installments, from 1796 to 1797. This publication, and its eventual publication as a two-volume novel (still anonymous) in 1798, led to considerable attention for the novel, and speculation as to its author's identity. Some believed it was a work of Schiller's, and others a work of Goethe's, though Friedrich Schlegel was quick to dismiss the latter claim. The fuss eventually led to the revelation of its true author, who was treated to much celebration, albeit short-lived.
After this brief burst of activity and fame, Caroline's literary output greatly slowed, and her other major works were written at a much later date, toward the end of her life. She and the other women writers included in Die Horen demonstrated a new potential for both aesthetically and commercially successful writing by women, but the ultimate role of women in the Weimar circle, and the intellectual legacy of works like Agnes von Lilien, has been debated. Critic Peter McIsaac has observed that, though they included women writers in Die Horen, Schiller and Goethe wrote of expunging their "feminine" qualities, and continued to regard works by women as "dilettantish" and belonging to a lower form than their own work. The novel was republished in 1988, and has gotten much more widespread and sympathetic treatment since.
Caroline von Wolzogen