Kierkegaard’s Muse—the first biography of Regine Olsen (1822–1904), the inspiration and one-time fiancée of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard—is a moving portrait of a long romantic fever that had momentous literary consequences. Drawing on Regine’s newly discovered letters, acclaimed Kierkegaard biographer Joakim Garff tells the story of her mysterious relationship with Kierkegaard more fully and vividly than ever before, shedding new light on her influence on his life and writings. Like Dante’s Beatrice, Regine is one of the great muses of literary history. Kierkegaard proposed to her in 1840, but broke off the engagement a year later. After their break, they saw each other strikingly often, inside dimly lit Copenhagen churches, on the streets, and on the paths along the old city ramparts, passing by without uttering a word. Psychologically acute and as gripping as a novel, Kierkegaard’s Muse is an unforgettable account of a wild, strange, and poignant romance that made an indelible mark on literary history.

About Author

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, (born May 5, 1813, Copenhagen, Den.—died Nov. 11, 1855, Copenhagen), Danish philosopher, theologian, and cultural critic who was a major influence on existentialism and Protestant theology in the 20th century. He attacked the literary, philosophical, and ecclesiastical establishments of his day for misrepresenting the highest task of human existence—namely, becoming oneself in an ethical and religious sense—as something so easy that it could seem already accomplished even when it had not even been undertaken. Positively, the heart of his work lay in the infinite requirement and strenuous difficulty of religious existence in general and Christian faith in particular.

Reviews

“A moving, penetrating insight into one of the greatest and most perplexing love stories in literary history, written with the same scholarly vigilance and imaginative affection that made Garff’s biography of Kierkegaard such a monumental achievement. . . . [G]oes further than any previous attempt to explore and understand the relationship between Regine and Kierkegaard.”—Morten Høi Jensen, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Garff is both a punctilious scholar and superb writer.”—Frank Freeman, Commonweal Magazine

“A measured, perceptive portrait of Regine Olsen, Kierkegaard’s jilted fiancée, reanimating her not as the philosopher’s immortalized muse but as a living, breathing person.”—Publishers Weekly