"An important contribution to our understanding of eighteenth-century culture. Arons derives her critical framework from various discursive traditions and disciplinary areas, combining aspects of each in an original way that allows the reader to examine cultural conventions of women's writing in the eighteenth century-with a focus onGermany but applicable to England or France-from a new perspective. As a result, the conflicting negotiations of upholding gender norms and bourgeois aesthetic demands of 'authentic' representation via writing is revealed. The trope of women writing about the performance of virtue on the contemporary stage or at court provides an ideal vehicle for exploring these issues. This is a truly original book that is a pleasure to read." - Susan A. Cocalis, University of Massachusetts-Amherst