IN “DER MENSCH ALS WEIB,” Andreas-Salomé argues that a woman who corresponds to what she defines as “das Weib” cannot be an artist. These two forms of being are mutually exclusive. In the novella Eine Ausschweifung, published in the same year, the main character, Adine, struggles significantly because her desire to devote herself to art clashes with a vestigial drive to be a wife and mother. Although the word “decadence” does not appear in either text, each text's representation of the chasm between the submissive, nurturing woman (wife/mother) and the emancipated, artistic woman conjures up elements of discourses on decadence. “Der Mensch als Weib” reiterates common turn-of-the-century definitions of woman. Eine Ausschweifung, too, while depicting life possibilities for women that go beyond the traditional roles of wife and mother, tends toward nostalgia for women's traditional roles. These two texts address similar issues but in different manners. Whereas “Der Mensch als Weib” is a theoretical essay about femininity, woman, and humanity, Eine Ausschweifung is a novella that examines how theories of femininity play out in the lives of individual women. Reading the two texts in tandem provides an enriched reading experience of both, opens up new and productive avenues of interpretation, suggests Andreas-Salomé's concomitant appreciation for and reservations toward gender theories and theory in general, and sheds new light on the gendering of decadence.