The Youth of Goethe

Peter Hume Brown

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• Publié par: odda
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 42
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Youth of Goethe, by Peter Hume Brown This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Youth of Goethe Author: Peter Hume Brown Release Date: November 11, 2006 [EBook #19753] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUTH OF GOETHE *** Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) THE YOUTH OF GOETHE BY P. HUME BROWN, LL.D., F.B.A. LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1913 TO THE VISCOUNT HALDANE OF CLOAN, LORD CHANCELLOR OF GREAT BRITAIN. MY DEAR CHANCELLOR,—AS THE "ONLY BEGETTER" OF THIS BOOK, IT SEEMS ALMOST OBLIGATORY THAT IT SHOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR NAME. THE AUTHOR. GOETHE'S BIOGRAPHIE. "Anfangs ist es ein Punkt der leise zum Kreise sich öffnet, Aber, wachsend, umfasst dieser am Ende die Welt." FRIEDRICH H EBBEL. "In the beginning a point that soft to the circle expandeth, But the circle at length, growing, enclaspeth the world." CONTENTS Preface [Pg vii] CHAPTER I EARLY YEARS IN FRANKFORT 1749—1765 PAGE GOETHE'S BIRTHPLACE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HIM PERIOD OF HIS BIRTH HIS FATHER HIS MOTHER HIS SISTER FAMILY FRIENDS HIS EDUCATION RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR FRENCH OCCUPATION OF FRANKFORT GOETHE'S FIRST LOVE DESTINED FOR THE STUDY OF LAW THE BOY THE FATHER OF THE MAN HIS CHARACTER AND EARLY TASTES 1 4 6 8 10 11 12 14 18 19 21 23 25 27 CHAPTER II STUDENT IN LEIPZIG OCTOBER, 1765—SEPTEMBER, 1768 GOES TO LEIPZIG HIS WILD LIFE THERE SOCIETY OF LEIPZIG HIS IRREGULAR STUDIES ADOPTS LEIPZIG FASHIONS FEMININE INFLUENCES DANDYISM FALLS IN LOVE WITH KÄTHCHEN SCHÖNKOPF FRIENDSHIP WITH BEHRISCH HIS RELATIONS TO KÄTHCHEN MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTS FRIENDSHIP WITH OESER STATE OF GERMAN LITERATURE POEMS OF THE PERIOD DIE LAUNE DES VERLIEBTEN DIE MITSCHULDIGEN INSPIRATION 29 29 31 33 35 36 37 38 39 40 44 46 48 49 51 52 54 [Pg viii] CHAPTER III AT HOME IN FRANKFORT SEPTEMBER, 1768—APRIL, 1770 RETURNS TO FRANKFORT HIS BROKEN HEALTH RELATIONS TO HIS FATHER HIS SISTER INTEREST IN RELIGION FRIENDSHIP WITH FRÄULEIN VON KLETTENBERG A MYSTERIOUS MEDICINE EVOLVES A RELIGIOUS CREED INFLUENCE OF FRÄULEIN VON KLETTENBERG 57 58 58 60 61 62 63 65 66 INTEREST IN LITERATURE AND ART LESSING AND WIELAND RIPENING POWERS 67 70 71 CHAPTER IV GOETHE IN STRASSBURG APRIL, 1770—AUGUST, 1771 SETTLEMENT IN STRASSBURG INFLUENCES OF STRASSBURG CHANGE IN HIS RELIGIOUS FEELINGS MANNER OF LIFE IN STRASSBURG FRIENDSHIP WITH DR. SALZMANN RELATIONS TO JUNG STILLING COMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HERDER YOUNG'S CONJECTURES ON ORIGINAL COMPOSITION ITS INFLUENCE ON GOETHE'S GENIUS FRIEDERIKE BRION HIS RELATIONS TO HER PARTING FROM HER MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES SELF-DISCIPLINE POEMS ADDRESSED TO FRIEDERIKE 75 75 76 78 79 83 84 90 93 95 96 101 102 103 105 [Pg ix] CHAPTER V FRANKFORT—GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN AUGUST, 1771—DECEMBER, 1771 GOETHE'S RETURN TO FRANKFORT CREATIVE PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE PERIOD POET OR ARTIST? MENTAL CONFLICT EPOCHS IN HIS LAST FRANKFORT YEARS HIS SISTER CORNELIA GROWING DISTASTE FOR FRANKFORT 108 108 111 112 113 116 117 DEPRESSION WORSHIP OF SHAKESPEARE GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN ITS INFLUENCE ON EUROPEAN LITERATURE 119 120 121 131 CHAPTER VI INFLUENCE OF MERCK AND THE DARMSTADT CIRCLE 1772 FRIENDSHIP WITH MERCK CHARACTER OF MERCK HIS INFLUENCE ON GOETHE THE DARMSTADT CIRCLE ITS INFLUENCE ON GOETHE CAROLINE FLACHSLAND AND GOETHE POEMS OF GOETHE INSPIRED BY THE DARMSTADT CIRCLE WANDERERS STURMLIED DER WANDERER 133 133 135 136 136 137 138 139 141 CHAPTER VII WETZLAR AND CHARLOTTE BUFF MAY—SEPTEMBER, 1772 DEPARTURE FROM WETZLAR WETZLAR AND ITS SOCIETY LOTTE BUFF GOETHE'S RELATIONS TO HER KESTNER, LOTTE'S BETROTHED GOETHE, KESTNER, AND LOTTE DEPARTURE FROM WETZLAR KESTNER'S CHARACTERISATION OF GOETHE 143 144 147 147 148 149 150 151 [Pg x] CHAPTER VIII AFTER WETZLAR 1772—1773 SUICIDE OF JERUSALEM GOETHE VISITS THE FAMILY VON LA ROCHE FRAU VON LA ROCHE MAXIMILIANE VON LA ROCHE UNREST LETTERS TO KESTNER ESTRANGEMENT FROM HIS FATHER SOLITUDE 154 155 155 157 158 159 161 162 CHAPTER IX SATIRICAL DRAMAS AND FRAGMENTS POET OR ARTIST? LITERARY ACTIVITY FRANKFURTER GELEHRTEN ANZEIGEN LETTER OF THE PASTOR TWO BIBLICAL QUESTIONS RECASTS GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN SATIRICAL PLAYS PROMETHEUS MAHOMET ADLER UND TAUBE KÜNSTLERS ERDEWALLEN 163 164 165 166 167 167 169 175 181 183 184 CHAPTER X WERTHER—CLAVIGO 1774 GOETHE'S NEED OF EXTERNAL STIMULUS GOETHE AND THE BRENTANOS ORIGIN OF WERTHER ENGLISH INFLUENCE ON WERTHER PUBLICATION OF WERTHER GOETHE AND WERTHER SECOND PART OF WERTHER WERTHER AND GOETHE 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 193 INFLUENCE OF WERTHER THE KESTNERS AND WERTHER WERTHERISM CLAVIGO DRAMATISED FROM BEAUMARCHAIS ORIGIN OF CLAVIGO ITS PLOT CONSTRUCTED ON CLASSICAL MODELS CLAVIGO AND GOETHE 196 198 199 200 200 202 202 205 206 [Pg xi] CHAPTER XI GOETHE AND SPINOZA—DER EWIGE JUDE 1773—1774 GOETHE'S DEBT TO SPINOZA MISDATES SPINOZA'S INFLUENCE DER EWIGE JUDE ORIGINAL PLAN OF IT AS IT WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN ITS DIVISIONS ITS CHARACTERISTICS UNPUBLISHED TILL AFTER GOETHE'S DEATH 209 210 212 213 216 216 216 218 CHAPTER XII GOETHE IN SOCIETY 1774 JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER HIS CHARACTER HIS INTEREST IN GOETHE VISITS FRANKFORT HIS INTERCOURSE WITH GOETHE JOHANN BERNHARD BASEDOW HIS CHARACTER AND CAREER HIS VISIT TO FRANKFORT GOETHE, LAVATER, AND BASEDOW AT EMS 220 220 222 224 225 227 227 228 228 THEIR VOYAGE DOWN THE RHINE JUNG STILLING SCENE AT ELBERFELDT FRITZ JACOBI GOETHE MAKES HIS ACQUAINTANCE THEIR INTERCOURSE JACOBI'S ESTIMATE OF GOETHE KLOPSTOCK GOETHE'S ADMIRATION OF HIM THEIR MEETING IN FRANKFORT AN SCHWAGER KRONOS BOIE AND WERTHES ON GOETHE MAJOR VON KNEBEL AND GOETHE GOETHE AND THE PRINCES OF WEIMAR VON KNEBEL ON GOETHE DEATH OF FRÄULEIN VON KLETTENBERG 230 231 232 233 233 234 237 238 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 [Pg xii] CHAPTER XIII LILI SCHÖNEMANN 1775 THE SCHÖNEMANN FAMILY GOETHE'S INTRODUCTION TO LILI SCHÖNEMANN HIS SUBSEQUENT MEMORY OF HER LILI COMPARED WITH HIS PREVIOUS LOVES GOETHE'S SONGS ADDRESSED TO HER COUNTESS STOLBERG GOETHE'S RELATIONS TO HER ERWIN UND ELMIRE STELLA CLAUDINE VON VILLA BELLA A DISTRACTED LOVER BETROTHED TO LILI SHRINKS FROM MARRIAGE COUNTS STOLBERG IN FRANKFORT 247 248 249 250 251 253 253 255 257 263 266 268 269 270 GOETHE STARTS WITH THEM FOR SWITZERLAND VISITS HIS SISTER AT EMMENDINGEN WITH LAVATER IN ZURICH ACCOMPANIES PASSAVANT TO ST. GOTHARD LYRICS TO LILI RETURN TO FRANKFORT 271 273 275 276 276 278 CHAPTER XIV LAST MONTHS IN FRANKFORT—THE URFAUST 1775 RELATIONS TO LILI ON HIS RETURN A CRISIS IN THEIR RELATIONS MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTS ESTIMATES OF GOETHE BY SULZER AND ZIMMERMANN INVITATION TO WEIMAR PROPOSED JOURNEY TO ITALY A DELAYED MESSENGER DEPARTS FOR WEIMAR EGMONT AND THE URFAUST THE URFAUST CHARACTERISTICS Index 279 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 287 288 293 PREFACE "GENERALLY speaking," Goethe has himself said, "the most important period in the life of an individual is that of his development—the period which, in my case, breaks off with the detailed narrative of Dichtung und Wahrheit ." In reality, as we know, there is no complete breach at any point in the lives of either nations or individuals. But if in the life of Goethe we are to fix upon a dividing point, it is his departure from Frankfort and his permanent settlement in Weimar in his twenty-seventh year. Considered externally, that change of his surroundings is the most obvious event in his career, and for the world at large marks its division into two well-defined periods. In relation to his inner development his removal from Frankfort to Weimar may also be regarded as [Pg xiii] the most important fact in his life. From the date of his settlement in Weimar he was subjected to influences which equally affected his character and his genius; had he continued to make his home in Frankfort, it is probable that, both as man and literary artist, he would have developed characteristics essentially [Pg xiv] different from those by which the world knows him. There were later experiences—notably his Italian journey and his intercourse with Schiller —which profoundly influenced him, but none of these experiences penetrated his being so permanently as the atmosphere of Weimar, which he daily breathed for more than half a century. As Goethe himself has said, the first twenty-six years of his life are essentially the period of his "development." During that period we see him as he came from Nature's hand. His words, his actions have then a stamp of spontaneity which they gradually lost with advancing years as the result of his social and official relations in Weimar. He has told us that it was one of the painful conditions of his position there that it made impossible that frank and cordial relation with others which it was his nature to seek, and from which he had previously derived encouragement and stimulus; as a State official, he adds, he could be on easy terms with nobody without running the risk of a petition for some favour which he might or might not be able to confer. For the portrayal of the youthful Goethe materials are even superabundant; of no other genius of the same order, indeed, have we a record comparable in fulness of detail for the same period of life. And it is this abundance of information and the extraordinary individuality to whom it relates that give [Pg xv] specific interest to any study of Goethe's youth. From month to month, even at times from day to day, we can trace the growth of his character, of his opinions, of his geniu