Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“When we engage ourselves emotionally and intellectually with the arts, we enter an experience which anticipates freedom.”

His Beginnings

His grandmother gave him a puppet show to encourage his love of theatre. His mother encouraged his imagination and often told him stories and plays.

“One can say that anyone born ten years earlier or later would have become …a completely different person.”

Born in Frankfurt on August 28, 1748. His father, Johann, was a lawyer and his mother, Katherine Elisabeth, was the mayor’s daughter.

Early Years Goethe described his childhood as chaotic and

thought of himself as a combination of his father’s northern rigorous intellect and morality and his mothers southern casual style, a combination of two Germanies.

During his childhood the French occupied Frankfurt during the Seven Years War, a conflict over colonial possessions and Joseph II was crowned.

These events began his tendency toward rebellion, a sentiment which was rarely discussed openly.

Goethe was known as a jokester and a playboy, constantly in and out of love. Many of his affairs became the basis for his stories and poems.

Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be.

LeipzigGoethe’s father personally supervised his education from home until he was 16 when he was sent to study law at the University in Leipzig.Although he was obviously intelligent, he didn’t take his studies too seriously. He began writing and studying the social scene more than the books.

His later fame surprised his professors, especially his main teacher Körner whose daughter also attended the school..

We all seek direction, inspiration, what shall we do with our lives in order to make our mark, to distinguish ourselves from the great unnumbered mass.“ 

Strasbourg

„A man can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days.

In 1770 after recovering from an illness he went to study in Strasbourg. Here he met Johann Gottfried von Herder, a literary critic.

Herder would prove to be a profound influence on Goethe’s life. He introduced him to Shakespeare and other Romantic influences.

He graduated with a law degree in 1771. He became depressed as he disliked law and was constantly looking for another way to support himself. His opportunity would come a few years later with an invitation from a prince.

Birth of a Literary Genius Although he had been writing for some time, it

was really Herder’s influence that got him to write seriously and to create his own artistic rules.

His first major work was Gotz von Berlichingen. A story about a robber baron, it was one of the first works to introduce youthful protest against established order.It also introduced the idea of intellectual freedom to the literary world.

He said his works were alive and finished in his head, like Mozart’s compositions or Michelangelo's sculpture, before ever being written down. It was with this novel that he began his reign as the giant of German literature, respected by even those he disliked.

Sturm und Drang Literally Storm and Stress, this

revolutionary protest movement in German literature was a reaction against the Enlightment and Rationalist movements.

Romanticism focused on the individual, the imagination, the subjective and the transcendental.

The movement developed a theme of youthful genius in rebellion. Goethe’s hero Werther who kills himself over love becomes the movements most famous representation.

The ideas of Rousseau were a major stimulus of the movement. Music such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni also helped define the movement.

“Man cannot contain himself for long in the conscious condition or in consciousness;he must take refuge again in unconsciousness, for that is where his roots grow.”

Die Leiden des WerthersWerther falls in love with a girl engaged to marry someone else. Werther goes away and when he return the girl has married. Crushed by the hopelessness of the situation, Werther kills himself. The novel was based on one of Goethe’s affairs , one the left him desperate and depressed.

The novel becomes the spark that ignited Sturm und Drang. It became a huge hit, turning Goethe into the equivalent of a pop star at the age of 23. “Wertherfieber” hits Germany and many imitate Werther’s style of dress.

Goethe was widely criticized for “promoting suicide”. The church also pushed for the book to be removed from shelves and were successful in Leipzig, Bavaria and Austria. Goethe later said he despised those who would turn poetry into reality and he didn’t condone suicide. But he had to kill Werther so he could go on living.

Invitation To Weimer

In 1775 at the age of 26 Duke Karl August invited Goethe to join him in Weimer. Goethe had met the duke briefly and was impressed by him.

Young princes often invited famous or talented men to their towns and it was expected that the invitation would be accepted gladly. Goethe said he would come but wouldn’t guarantee he’d stay.

He had disliked the legal profession and was skeptical of the political aristocratic world he was being asked to join.

Weimer At that time Weimer was insignificant although it has

been in existence since 945. The Holy Roman Empire was still technically in control of most of Europe.

Weimer was a small principality in the loosely defined Germany.

By the time of Goethe’s death, Weimer would become a center of European literature and culture.

Once there, Goethe found it exhilarating to be in the middle of the social scene, interacting with all kinds of people. He invited many of his friends to live and work.

Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille, Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt. [Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.]

Immediate Sensation Goethe decided to arrive in Weimer dressed as

his character Werther. He wore a bright blue and yellow suit causing people to whisper in the streets as he passed.

Weimer society was suspicious of him and resented him from the beginning. They were shocked at a member of the middle class from another town serving in their government.

Goethe enjoyed ruffling people’s feathers and making them confront their social traditions. He acted without regard to his reputation, something they were not used to.

Some would call him crazy, some would call him immoral, but all were fascinated by him.

Charlotte von Stein

Charlotte von Stein was a well respected member of Weimar society.

She took Goethe under her wing after his arrival and encouraged him to give politics a try by telling him it would benefit his writing career.She often admonished him for addressing her with the du form in public. She was concerned people would get the wrong idea.They were close friends until his return from Italy when he took up with Christiane Vulpius.

The Climb up the Court Ladder His first public responsibility was for the roads and

waterways. With Charlotte’s help and influence he was promoted

through elections to handle the town’s financial matters. He slowly became a respected member of society and

people looked to him as a strange, but intellectual authority.

His proudest accomplishment was opening and running The Weimar Theatre with Schiller from 1791-1817, which sparked a dramatic renaissance in Germany.

He was eventually raised to nobility all the way to second in command behind the prince. He received the particle “von” in his name and the titles of “Geheimrat” (councilor) and “Excellency.

One ought, everyday, to hear a song, read a fine poem, and, if possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

Schiller Goethe met Schiller in 1794. Also a major contributor to Sturm und Drang, Schiller was influenced by Kant and greatly admired Goethe.They became extremely close friends and Schiller moved to Weimar in 1799. Goethe often contributed to Schiller’s journals and publications and it was often Schiller who motivated him to write.

Schiller was a disciplined writer, carefully researching and then writing and rewriting, while Goethe would just frantically write his thoughts. Schiller brought a sense of discipline to Goethe’s work. His health began to fail and he died on May 9, 1805. Goethe was criticized for not wanting to attend Schiller’s wake.

Conversation Goethe loved conversation even more than the

written word. In Weimer he had the opportunity to mingle with the Duke’s frequent guests of state and society.

If he was alone he was known to simply imagine guests were present and carry on a conversation, guessing their responses.

He began dictating his work and found it a liberating process. He saw this method as a sign of his transition from the Sturm und Drang style to what was termed Weimer Classicism.

“The deepest concerns of the mind and heart, our most important observations and reflections, should only be discussed by word of mouth.”

Italy

In an attempt at intellectual self liberation from the uptight and proper court life in Weimer, he traveled to Italy in 1786 to gain a new perspective.

He settled in Rome and studied ancient history, art and literature.

His writing began to stress a calmness and dignity reflecting a classical style.

This new direction ushered in another phase of German literature, the Classical period.

“In Rome I have found myself for the first time.”

Another Literary Revolution When Goethe returned from Italy he caused another

sensation when he made demands on his publisher before allowing his works to appear in print.

In those days a writer simply handed his material over to the publisher and that was it. Goethe’s insistence on controlling his words from conception to the printed page was a revolutionary concept.

He also negotiated his payment. This was the beginning and foundation of the modern relationship between authors and publishers today.

Scientific Discoveries Goethe, like many of his characters, loved

nature. He viewed nature as a separate personality, as a living, breathing entity.

His research in morphology is seen as the foundation for Darwin’s theory of evolution.

He also published The Theory of Color which stated that the visual was not concrete, but rather a subjective interpretation by the individual. His ideas on these matters were sometimes compared to the ideas of Kant.

Nature! We are surrounded and embraced by her:powerless to separate ourselves from her, and powerless to penetrate beyond her Without asking, or warning, she snatches us up into her circling dance, and whirls us on until we are tired, and drop from her arms."

Christiane Vulpius

Goethe met Christiane in 1787 and invited her to live with him in 1788. This caused a scandal in Weimer society. Not only was he living with a woman he wasn’t married to, but she worked at the paper factory and was seen as an unsuitable companion for someone of his position.

He lived with her for 18 years until he married her in 1806. They would only have ten more years. She died in 1816 leaving only one surviving child, August.

Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.

The French Revolution1789

Both Goethe and Schiller embraced the ideals of the French Revolution at first. For the first time in many parts of Europe, the political power was taken from the state and put it into the hands of the people following the path of the American Revolution.. Once the Reign of Terror began they began to distance themselves and take a different stand.

They believed there had to be a balance between reason and the human condition. They also believed this could and should be achieved through the arts.

“In the building of true political freedom we must indeed, if we are to solve the political problem in practice, follow the path of aesthetics, since it is through Beauty that we arrive at Freedom.” Schiller 1795

Political Beliefs He didn’t become particularly interested in participating in or

following politics until after the French Revolution. Before that he said he would leave the thinking on these matters to men like Schiller and Kant.

He felt that mass democracy was impossible. In 1832 he said, “Legislators and revolutionaries who promote equality and liberty at the same time are either psychopaths or mountebanks.”

He was strongly against political centralization and many think he would be appalled at the state of the world and Europe in particular today. He felt that states and cities had to have their own authority, traditions and unique sense or culture would be lost.

He believed that a country should be united by things like patriotism, transportation, common money and language among other things, not by a central authority.

Goethe's Religious Beliefs Goethe did have a strong belief in a supreme God, but

he dismissed religious opinion and theory. He embraced the idea presented in the French

Revolution that there should be religious freedom. He believed people should be able to find their own way to God.

He often struggled in his life with the idea of sin and righteousness. He sometimes saw wrongdoing as part of the means to an end, and if the end was good, then in his view the wrong was justified.

He spent a good deal of time pondering whether God agreed with this or not, and the struggle was expressed in many of his works.

It wasn’t until Charlotte von Stein’s influence that he accepted himself as a good person.Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.

Faust Faust was Goethe’s crowning achievement, his greatest

work. It took him 57 years to complete. He was 81 when he finished.

The legend of Faust dates back to early Christianity. Before Goethe it’s most famous version was a play by Christopher Marlowe.

Goethe’s version, which in many ways is a reflection of his own life and ideas, ends with Faust escaping his doomed fate as his soul is taken to heaven. While Marlowe’s version was a statement about the punishment of sin, Goethe’s was about redemption.

"I've read, alas! through philosophy,Medicine and jurisprudence too, And, to my grief, theologyWith ardent labour studied through.And here I stand with all my lore, Poor fool no wiser then before!"

The possibility of contentment– Faust’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge and the lengths he goes

to get it are a reflection of the constant struggle we are in to both exist and become.

Good vs. Evil– In Goethe’s version it is stressed that Mephistopheles is not always

the villain and Faust is not always the hero. We are not all good or all evil.

Superficial Blindness– Faust had acted greedily, taking from the poor and weak to further

his wealth. Even with all his wealth and power he did not have any joy. Only after Faust has lost his sight at the end of life does he truly see what is really important and he returned all that he taken.

God’s Judgment of Man– When Faust dies and Mephistopheles is rejoicing over his victory,

the angels come and take his soul to heaven, despite his the wrongs he had committed. God cared more about the intent than the action. Although Faust had committed sin he had struggled to grow and become better.

Themes of Faust

His Later Years His son August and daughter in law

Ottilie lived above him and took care of him. Ottilie often served as hostess for his parties.

From 1806-1823 he spent summers in either Carlsbad or Marienbad, spa towns, for health reasons.

Here he socialized with the rich and famous of the day including Beethoven.

In 1823 he wrote one of his greatest poems Elegy about Ulirike von Lezetzow. He chased her around from town to town until she tired of him and became disinterested. He was 73, she was 19.

It's not that age brings childhood back again, Age merely shows what children we remain.

His Death

He spent the few days before his death fully dressed and in his chair having conversations. As he became worse, he often was heard mumbling Schiller’s name.

Goethe died on March 22, 1832, holding his daughter in law’s hand, at the age of 83 of pneumonia. His dying words were “more light.”

By the end of his life he had managed to revolutionize the literary world more than once, and his lifetime would come to be known as the age of Goethe.

He is buried in the grand ducal vault along side Schiller in Weimar.

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Unseld, Siegfried Goethe and His Publishers. Translated by Kenneth J. Northcott. x, 372 p. 1996

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Liselotte Dieckmann 1974 From Goethe to Hauptmann Camillo von Klenze 1926 Conversations and Encounters