6. Religion

Goethe was brought up in Frankfurt, a Protestant city where the Lutheran Church held sway, but was also introduced to key Enlightenment texts through his father’s extensive library. ‘Religion’ explains that an early Pietist phase strengthened the value that Goethe placed on tolerance in religious matters. Goethe’s standpoint was what the 18th century called ‘natural religion’. Goethe’s allegiance to the Enlightenment is seen in his work, including the poem ‘Prometheus’ (1774) and the neoclassical drama Iphigenie in Tauris (1786–7). Goethe seems to anticipate Nietzsche in viewing human life as ‘beyond good and evil’. What mattered to Goethe was individuality, which brings him close to the greatest contemporary philosopher, Immanuel Kant.

3. Classical art and world literature

‘Classical art and world literature’ shows that Goethe’s knowledge of art and literature was wide-ranging and explains that, in both, he came to believe that the works produced by the ancient Greeks formed a standard that could never be surpassed. In art, he explored the classical tradition that descended via the Renaissance to the neoclassicism of the 18th century. In literature, his taste was much wider. He read easily in French, Italian, English, Latin, and Greek, and in his later life he eagerly read translations of Asian texts—novels from China, epics and plays from India, and the Arabic and Persian poetry that would inspire his great lyrical collection, the West-östlicher Divan (West-Eastern Divan).

4. Politics

Goethe’s conception of politics was permanently shaped by the mode of princely government under the Empire. ‘Politics’ explains that Goethe liked what was particular and individual, and disliked abstraction in politics as elsewhere. He happily accepted the traditional hierarchical organization of German society into Stände or ranks, but Goethe’s conservatism was not typical of his time. Goethe joined the Duke of Weimar’s court in 1775 and soon was appointed to the Privy Council that governed the duchy. His experiences from this time and the traumatic effects of the French Revolution and its aftermath can be seen in his literature, although his treatment of political issues is complex and ambivalent, and sometimes contradictory.

1. Love

Goethe is perhaps the greatest love poet of modern Europe. ‘Love’ mainly considers his poetry, but it begins with his early novel, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sufferings of Young Werther, 1774), that he wrote about love in a new way which enraptured innumerable readers. Goethe went further than any previous writer in presenting his hero as a union of mind and body. In doing so, he extended the range of experience that literature could express. Goethe’s personal relationship history is documented and, against this background, the early love poetry is rich in emotional complexity. A recurrent theme is the poet’s need for someone to calm his turbulent emotions.

2. Nature

For Goethe, humanity formed part of a greater unity, that of Nature. Nature was also something to be experienced in the most direct, immediate way. ‘Nature’ looks closely at the poem Auf dem See, to appreciate how Goethe’s language expresses his sensuous apprehension of Nature. Goethe saw Nature as a sensuous maternal presence, but above all, dynamic—constantly in motion, both creative and destructive. Goethe was fascinated by anatomy, botany, mineralogy, and geology and devoted as much or more time to studying the natural world as he did to literature. Despite his problematic scientific method, Goethe’s empirical studies of botany, colour perception, and other subjects provided much valuable material for later generations.

5. Tragedy

Goethe lived in a great age of tragedy-writing. Goethe’s place in this tradition is assured by his most famous work, Faust; its two parts are subtitled respectively the First and Second Parts of the Tragedy. ‘Tragedy’ outlines the tragic themes of Goethe’s work: frequently there is a central character with exceptional gifts, and a charismatic appeal to the people around him, trapped in a world that is too small for him, and brought low by the intrigues of lesser people. Goethe’s Torquato Tasso (1790) is also discussed, which differs from a familiar model of tragedy as it lacks catharsis. In rejecting catharsis, Goethe has brought art dangerously close to reality.