Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A detailed Summary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who lived to the age of eighty-two and produced more than 130 volumes of poetry, plays, letters, and science, is acknowledged to be one of the giants of world literature. His writing ranged from fairy tales, to psychological novels, to political and historical novels, and to something completely unique and different such as Faust.

Goethe was born shortly after the death of the Pope, on August 28, 1749 in Frankfurt am Main to a middle class family. His mother had many connections because she was a daughter of the mayor. Young Goethe was brought up having a feeling of aristocracy. He had only two siblings out of the total eight who survived. One was his sister Cornelia and the other was the first born. He began writing at an early age and wrote abundantly. As C.P. Magill points out, "his writings are of daunting bulk and diversity. He is the national poet of a most industrious people and the quantity of information about him is correspondingly enormous." His poetry is of numerous styles, ranging from the Renaissance to his own times.

At the age of sixteen he was sent to study law at a university, but would have more gladly read classics at another university. After ten years he was invited

Goethe himself is very much like Faust, writing the tremendous play at the end of his life. As C.P. Magill states, "he is a lucky man, the kind who gets away with murder."

At this time Goethe wrote a large part of his works such as Die Geschwister, Der Triumph der Eempfindsamkeit, and books of poetry. His affair with Frau von Stein was not enough, however, to inspire such great works such Egmont, Faust, Tasso, and Iphigenie. It was his visit to Italy that helped him create such masterpieces. Most of his journey to Italy was spent at Rome and it was a turning point of his life. This journey had no affect on him, however, what Magill says about this is the following:

Footnote: Magill, C.P., German Literature (Great Britain, Oxford University Press, 1974) 50.

by Duke Karl August to come to Weimar (this city would be his actual home until his death there on March 22, 1832). He was already a good lawyer and had written the novel Werther. His work in Weimar caused him to observe the natural world around him and led him towards science. He would yet write fourteen volumes on the subject. At that time Weimar was an important city in Germany. C.P. Magill describes the time in the following passage:

"Up to the early years of this century, Weimar remained a symbol of the best elements in the German cultural tradition, and a center of activity in the arts. It was, for example, in its art schools, which Walter Gropius took over in 1919 and renamed the Bauhaus, that the modern movement in architecture began. Unhappy political associations now cling around

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Approximate Word count = 1066
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People