Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was the greatest German writer, a poet, novelist, playwright, scientist and statesman. Author of The Sorrows of Young Werther, Wilhelm Meister and Faust, the drama of a scholar who sells his soul to the devil, he dominated German literature for sixty years from his home in Weimar.
Genres
poetry, drama, novels and stories
Frankfurt and Werther
Goethe was born in 1749 in Frankfurt am Main into a wealthy family. His father had him taught languages, drawing and music at home before sending him to study law in Leipzig and Strasbourg. In Strasbourg he discovered Shakespeare and folk poetry, and became a leader of the Sturm und Drang movement.
In 1774 he published The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel in letters about a young man's hopeless love for a woman engaged to another, based partly on his own experience. It made him famous across Europe overnight; young men dressed like Werther in blue coats and yellow waistcoats.
Weimar
In 1775 the young Duke Karl August invited Goethe to Weimar, a small duchy where he remained for the rest of his life, serving as minister in charge of mines, roads, finances and the theatre. His two-year journey to Italy, from 1786 to 1788, transformed his art towards classical serenity.
His friendship with the poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller, from 1794 until Schiller's death in 1805, was one of the most fruitful in literary history. Goethe wrote the novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, the epic Hermann and Dorothea, ballads and lyric poems.
Faust and the sage
Goethe worked on Faust for almost sixty years. The first part, published in 1808, tells of the learned Doctor Faust, who makes a pact with the devil Mephistopheles and seduces the young Gretchen, with tragic consequences. The second part, finished shortly before his death, was published in 1832.
He also pursued scientific research, on the metamorphosis of plants, anatomy and a theory of colours that opposed Newton's. Visited by writers from all over Europe and by Napoleon himself, he died in Weimar in March 1832, at eighty-two.
Anecdotes
Meeting Napoleon
In October 1808, at Erfurt, Napoleon received Goethe and is said to have greeted him with the words Vous êtes un homme, you are a man. The emperor told him he had read Werther seven times, and criticised one passage of it.
A bone in the jaw
In 1784 Goethe discovered in the human skull the intermaxillary bone, which was thought to exist only in animals, and saw in it proof of the unity of all living creatures. The discovery had in fact been made a few years earlier by a French anatomist.
Frequently asked questions
What are Goethe's most famous works?
The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795–96), Faust (1808 and 1832), Elective Affinities (1809) and many poems, such as The Erl-King.
What is Faust about?
A scholar who, disillusioned with knowledge, makes a pact with the devil Mephistopheles in exchange for experience and pleasure, and seduces the young Gretchen.
Which translation of Faust is quoted on Guesseo?
The verse translation by the American poet Bayard Taylor, published in 1870–71.