<P> From a purely literary and historical point of view, Either / Or can be seen as a thinly veiled autobiography of the events between Kierkegaard and his ex-fianceé Regine Olsen . Johannes the Seducer in The Diary of a Seducer treats the object of his affection, Cordelia, much as Kierkegaard treats Regine: befriending her family, asking her to marry him, and breaking off the engagement . Either / Or, then, could be the poetic and literary expression of Kierkegaard's decision between a life of sensual pleasure, as he had experienced in his youth, or a possibility of marriage and what social responsibilities marriage might or ought to entail . Ultimately however, Either / Or stands philosophically independent of its relation to Kierkegaard's life . </P> <P> Yet, Kierkegaard was concerned about Regine because she tended to assume the life - view of characters she saw in the plays of Shakespeare at the theater . One day she would be "Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing" and another Juliet . He thought this to be a difficulty she needed to surpass and diagnosed both her and himself like this in Stages on Life's Way (1845). </P> <P> No, what she will be healed by is a life - wisdom permeated with a certain religiousness, a not exactly unbeautiful compound of something of the esthetic, of the religious, and of a life - philosophy . My view of life is a different one, and I force myself to the best of my ability to hold my life to the category and hold it firmly . This is what I will; this is what I ask of anyone I am to admire, of anyone I am really to approve - that during the day he think only of the category of his life and dream about it at night . I judge no one; anyone busily engaged in judging others in concreto rarely remains true to the category . It is the same as with the person who seeks in someone else's testimony a proof that he is earnest; he is eo ipso not in earnest, for earnestness is first and foremost positive confidence, in oneself . But every existence that wills something thereby indirectly judges, and the person who wills the category indirectly judges him who does not will . I also know that even if a person has only one step left to take he may stumble and relinquish his category; but I do not believe that I would therefore escape from it and be rescued by nonsense; I believe that it would hold on to me and judge me, and in this judgment there would in turn be the category . Søren Kierkegaard, Stages on Life's Way, Hong, p. 304 - 305 </P> <P> Either / Or established Kierkegaard's reputation as a respected author . Henriette Wulff, in a letter to Hans Christian Andersen, wrote, "Recently a book was published here with the title Either / Or! It is supposed to be quite strange, the first part full of Don Juanism, skepticism, et cetera, and the second part toned down and conciliating, ending with a sermon that is said to be quite excellent . The whole book attracted much attention . It has not yet been discussed publicly by anyone, but it surely will be . It is actually supposed to be by a Kierkegaard who has adopted a pseudonym ..." </P>

The time before a person becomes a judge is known as