Ecstasy, A Study of Happiness
- Reading level
- Easy
- Price
- Free
About the book
"Ecstasy, A Study of Happiness: A Novel" by Louis Couperus is a psychological novel published in 1892. The story follows widow Cecile van Erven and her complex relationship with Taco Quaerts, who sees her as an object of exalted love while she longs for something more earthly and human. Couperus explores themes of happiness and suffering through this tale of incomplete connections, glorifying a form of platonic love where spiritual devotion collides with unfulfilled desires, leaving his heroine caught between ecstasy and dissatisfaction.
- Widows
- Dutch fiction
- Sexual attraction
- Netherlands
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #37770. Ecstasy, A Study of Happiness on Wikipedia.
