Goethe Research Paper

2249 Words5 Pages

Bethany Lutheran College
Goethe
Dramatic Theory and Criticism THTR 420
Peter Bloedel
Henry Heyer
12/2/14

Out of all of Germany’s history, one theorist and philosopher stands out as having had a major impact during the tail end of the Age of Enlightenment. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of the most influential men in regards to theatre, and the theory, behind how and why it is made. Furthermore, he helped to usher in the era of “Sturm und Drang” in literature. This paper will attempt to provide insight to Goethe’s life, his works, his ideas, and his influence on culture still. It all begins with a “daemonic, gifted youth” (Ludwig 11).
Goethe was born on the 28th of August, 1749, in the city of Frankfurt-am-Main, as the “clock struck …show more content…

These contacts with the world as a whole, more than just an inspiration for poetry and drama, helped to shape Goethe’s views on the world and gave him an understanding other young writers like himself lacked. In fact, Reed theorizes that these experiences are precisely what saved Goethe from burning out as the other “comets” of the “Sturm und Drang” era did (Reed 30-31). He was not entirely satisfied in Weimar, and in 1786 he left for the Roman respite of Italy (Carus 38). Here he was able to work on the many projects he had left unfinished in Weimar, finishing his play Egmont and achieving much on Tasso and Faust (Carus 38-39). His time in Italy was just over two years, and upon his return to Weimar in 1788 he met Christian August Vulpius, an esteemed poet and playwright, whose sister, Christiana, would bear Goethe’s only son the following year (Carus 42). His thoughts also turned to the scientific world, writing poetry to illustrate different theories and accompanying the Duke on several journeys abroad (Reed 43-44). It was at this time that he re-read Spinoza, as there was a controversy about Spinoza’s atheism and his influence on the scientific world, and subscribed to Spinoza’s idea that “ ‘The more we understand individual things, the more we understand God’ – an immanent God, that is, accessible to direct seeing, not just unguaranteed faith” (Reed 46). This idea permeates throughout Goethe’s Faust, even as he opens his scene

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