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 German
poet, novelist, playwright and natural philosopher, one of the greatest
figures in Western literature. Throughout his life Goethe was interested
in a variety of studies and pursuits. He made important discoveries
in connection with plant and animal life, and evolved a new theory
of the character of light. In literature his most famous work was
the poetic drama in two parts, FAUST.
Noble be man,
Helpful and good!
For that alone
Sets him apart
From every other creature
On earth.
(from The Divine, 1783)
Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main, the first child of a lawyer
Johann Caspar Goethe, and Katherine Elisabeth Textor, daughter of
a mayor of Frankfurt. Goethe had a comfortable childhood and he
was greatly influenced by his mother, who encouraged his literary
aspirations. At the age of 16, Goethe began to study law student
at Leipzig University (1765-68), he also studied drawing with Adam
Oeser. An unhappy love affair inspired Goethe's first play, The
Lover's Caprice (1767). After a period of illness, resumed his
studies in Strassburg (1770-71). Goethe practiced law in Frankfurt
(1771-72) and Wetzlar (1772). He contributed to Frankfurter Gelehrte
Anzeigen (1772-73), and in 1774 he published his first novel,
self-revelatory DIE LEIDEN DES JUNGEN WERTHERS. It depicted more
or less directly his hopeless affair with Lotte Buff, the fiancée
of a colleague. In the novel the ill-fated Werther, who commits
suicide, becomes the prototype of the Romantic hero.
 Goethe's
youth was emotionally hectic to the point that he sometimes feared
for his reason. He was recognized as a leading figure in the Sturm
and Drang, which celebrated the energetic Promethean quality
of the individual in opposition to the rational idealistic ideal
of the Enlightenment. Goethe's poem 'Prometheus', with its insistence
that man must believe not in gods but in himself, might be seen
as motto for the whole movement. After a relaxing trip to Switzerland,
Goethe made a decisive break with his past. In 1775 he was welcomed
by Duke Karl August into the small court of Weimar, where he worked
in several governmental offices. During this period Goethe wrote
little. He was a council member and member of war commission, director
of roads and services, and managed the financial affairs of the
court. His great love in this period was Charlotte von Stein, but
the relationship was platonic. However, Goethe's scientific researches
were more successful.
Goethe discovered the human intermaxilarry bone (1784), and formulated
a vertebral theory of the skull. In 1786-88 he made a journey to
Italy, which inspired his play IPHIGENIE AUF TAURIS, and RÖMISHE
ELEGIEN, sensuous poems relating partly to Christiane Vulpius, who
became Goethe's mistress in 1789. The journey significantly influenced
his growing commitment to classical view of art. From this point,
his emotional dependence on Charlotte ended. Goethe was released
from day-to-day governmental duties to concentrate on writer, although
he was still general supervisor for arts and sciences, and director
of the court theatres (1791-1817).
"Three things are to be looked to in a building: that it stands
on the right spot; that it be securely founded; that it be successfully
executed."
(from Elective Affinities, 1808)
In the 1790s Goethe contributed to Friedrich von Schiller´s journal
Die Horen, published WILHELM MEISTERS LEHRJAHRE in 1795-96, and
continued his writings on the ideals of arts and literature in his
own journal Propyläen. (Note: Goethe was buried near Schiller
in the ducal vault at Weimar.)
 Goethe
remained creative during his last period. He married in 1806 Christiane
Vulpius, with whom he had lived nearly 18 years, and completed the
novel WILHELM MEISTERS WANDERJAHRE (1821-9), and his masterwork
Faust (part I, 1808; part II, 1832). Goethe had worked for
the most of his life on this drama. It was based on Christopher
Marlowe's Faust, and depicted a disillusioned scholar, who
makes a pact with Satan. The original figure in the Faust legend
was Gregorius Faustus (or Gregorius Sabellicus, Fautus Junior, c
1480-1510/1). His true identity is not known, but he claimed to
be an astrologer, expert in magic, and an alchemist. This legend
attracted Christoper Marlowe, who offered in his play a psychological
study of the battle between good and evil. Goethe's story created
a new persona for the Devil - Mephistoteles was a sarcastic gentleman,
who had salon acceptable behaviour. The character was willingly
adapted in literature, music, dance, popular art and other areas.
From 1791 to 1817 Goethe was the director of the court theatres.
He edited Kunst and Altertum (1816-32) and Zur Naturwissenschaft
(1817-24). Goethe died in Weimar on March 22, 1832. He and Schiller,
who died over a quarter of a century earlier, are buried together,
in a mausoleum in the ducal cemetery. The Goethe House and Schiller
House stand in the town, and the two statues of these literary giants
are outside the National Theatre.
For further reading: Unterirdische Gänge. Goethe, Freimaurerei
und Politik by W. Daniel Wilson (1999); Das Goethe-Tabu by W.
Daniel Wilson (1999); Christiane un Goethe by Sigrid Damm (1999);
Goethes "Werther": Kritik und Forschung by Peter Hans Herrmann
(1994); Wilhelm Meister: Das Ende der Kunst und die Wiederkehr
des Mythos by Hannelore Schlaffer (1989); "The Sorrows of Young
Werther" by Martin Swales (1987); Goethe's Novels by Hans Reiss
(1969); Goethe's "Die Wahlverwandtschaften": A Literary Interpretation
by Harry George Barnes (1967); Goethe-Bibliographie (1955-, serial);
Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister" by Karl Schlechta (1953); The Life
and Works of Goethe by G.H. Lewes (1855); Gespräche mit Goethe
by Johann Eckermann (1836) - Museums: Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe's House (Goethehaus), Am Frauenplan 1. Goethe lived there
for fifty years. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Summerhouse, im
Park an der Ilm. Goethe started there Iphigènie - In Weimar is
a copy of Goethe's Gartenhaus; also the furniture and other details
follow the original.
Faust - first part published 1808, the second 1832. -
In Heaven Mephistoles obtains permission to try to affect the
ruin of the soul of Faust, an old scholar who is disillusioned
with the world. Faust enters into a compact to become Mephistoles's
servant if he should exclaim, 'Stay, thou art so fair.' Faust
seduces a young girl Gretchen. She brings him a child, but panics
and drowns it, and in the end waits for her execution for the
crime, refusing to flee with Faust. The second part is extremely
complex. Helen, symbolizing perfect beauty, is recalled from Hades.
Faust attempts to justify his existence by reclaiming land from
the sea in order to found an ideal society, but his plan fails.
Angels finally rescue Faust's soul.
Faust versions: Gotthold Lessing's (1729-1781) lost play
Faust, Don Juan/Don Giovanni (perhaps best known from the Opera
by Lorenzo Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Oscar Wilde's novel
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorothy L. Sayers's play The Devil
to Pay (1939), Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus (1947). - Film
adaptations: 1926, dir. by F.W. Murnau; film All That Money
Can Buy, 1941, dir. by William Dieterle, based on Stephen Vincent
Benét work; 1949, dir by René Clair (La Beauté du Diable); 1974,
dir. by Brian DePalma (Phantom of the Paradise, based loosely
on Gaston Leroux's novel Phantom of the Opera).- Opera:
Gounod's Faust (1859), Buïto's Mefistotele (1866), Berlioz's La
Damnation de Faust (1893), Busoni's Doktor Faust (1925) - Animation:
1994, dir.by Jan Svankmaijer - English translations of Faust among
others by Isaiah Berlin
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