Goethe brief biography of william

In the following year, in order to gain insight into another side of his calling, he spent four months at Wetzlar, where the imperial law-courts were established. Merck , an army official in the neighbouring town of Darmstadt, he found a friend and mentor, whose irony and common-sense served as a corrective to his own exuberance of spirits.

A formal betrothal took place, and the beauty of the lyrics which Lili inspired leaves no room for doubt that here was a passion no less genuine than that for Friederike or Charlotte. But Goethe — more worldly wise than on former occasions — felt instinctively that the social world in which Lili moved was not really congenial to him. A visit to Switzerland in the summer of may not have weakened his interest in her, but it at least allowed him to regard her objectively; and, without tragic consequences on either side, the passion was ultimately allowed to yield to the dictates of common-sense.

Greatest of all of this period, however, was the dramatization of Faust. Thanks to a manuscript copy of the play in its earliest form — discovered as recently as — we are now able to distinguish how much of this tragedy was the immediate product of the Sturm und Drang , and to understand the intentions with which the young poet began his masterpiece.

It remained for Goethe, in the next period of his life, to construct on classic models a new vehicle for German dramatic poetry. In October the invitation was repeated, and on the 7th of November of that year Goethe arrived in the little Saxon capital which was to remain his home for the rest of his life. During the first few months in Weimar the poet gave himself up to the pleasures of the moment as unreservedly as his patron; indeed, the Weimar court even looked upon him for a time as a tempter who led the young duke astray.

But the latter, although himself a mere stripling, had implicit faith in Goethe, and a firm conviction that his genius could be utilized in other fields besides literature. Goethe proved the soul of the Weimar government, and a minister of state of energy and foresight. He interested himself in agriculture, horticulture and mining, which were of paramount importance to the welfare of the duchy, and out of these interests sprang his own love for the natural sciences, which took up so much of his time in later years.

In September, Goethe set out from Karlsbad — secretly and stealthily, his plan known only to his servant — on that memorable journey to Italy, to which he had looked forward with such intense longing; he could not cross the Alps quickly enough, so impatient was he to set foot in Italy. Here he gave himself up unreservedly to the new impressions which crowded on him, and he was soon at home among the German artists in Rome, who welcomed him warmly.

In the spring of he extended his journey as far as Naples and Sicily, returning to Rome in June , where he remained until his final departure for Germany on April 2, He himself regarded it as a kind of climax to his life; never before had he attained such complete understanding of his genius and mission in the world; it afforded him a vantage-ground from which he could renew the past and make plans for the future.

In Weimar he had felt that he was no longer in sympathy with the Sturm und Drang , but it was Italy which first taught him clearly what might take the place of that movement in German poetry. The search for the classic ideal is reflected in the works he completed or wrote under the Italian sky. The calm beauty of Greek tragedy is seen in the new iambic version of Iphigenie auf Tauris ; the classicism of the Renaissance gives the ground-tone to the wonderful drama of Torquato Tasso Most interesting of all, however, is the reflection of the classic spirit in works already begun in earlier days, such as Faust.

Disappointment in more senses than one awaited Goethe on his return to Weimar. He came back from Italy with a new philosophy of life, a philosophy at once classic and pagan, and with very definite ideas of what constituted literary excellence. But Germany had not advanced; in his countrymen were still under the influence of that Sturm und Drang from which the poet had fled.

It is thy own, it is all thou hast to front eternity with. And Emerson, who afterwards in his "Representative Men" did Goethe full justice, in introducing him as, if not a world-wise man, at all events as a world-related, once complained that "he showed us the actual rather than the ideal. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker.

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Goethe brief biography of william

August geboren, Iphigenie auf Tauris - Zusammenfassung. Iphigenie auf Tauris - Interpretation. Die Leiden des jungen Werther - Zusammenfassung. Die Leiden des jungen Werther - Interpretation. Literarische Werke. Werke von Schiller. Kabale und Liebe. Werke von Goethe. Faust Zusammenfassungen. Faust Szenenanalysen. Faust - Auerbachs Keller Zusammenfassung.

Nathan der Weise. Nathan der Weise - Personenkonstellation. Nathan und seine Kinder - Zusammenfassung. Werke bis zum Werke des Novellen des Realismus. Kleider machen Leute - Zusammenfassung. Kleider machen Leute - Interpretation. Der Schimmelreiter - Charakterisierung. Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe - Zusammenfassung. Werke der Nachkriegsliteratur.

Der Richter und sein Henker - Zusammenfassung. Der Richter und sein Henker - Charakterisierung. Werke der Postmoderne. Werke der Gegenwartsliteratur. Im Westen nichts Neues - Zusammenfassung.