Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Personality - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 - 1832)




One of the masters of the world literature, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe was the last European poet who possessed the revolutionary qualities of the great Renaissance personalities. He was a critic, journalist, painter, statesman, educationist, philosopher, and apart from all this, a theatre manager too! The variety, depth and quality of his output were in itself, stupendous.

The German poet’s entire life is a mirrored showcase of human existence through which a reader can find respite and peace in understanding himself in order to gain access to inner wealth of knowledge and moral courage. No other poet has left behind such a rich legacy in literature that gives invaluable insight into Goethean ideas, experiences and actions.

Goethe’s literary, scientific and philosophical contribution, his revolutionary ideas and activities, and his intimacy towards the relations based on friendship and love give us insight into this great literary figure.

Today, he is known by his poetic dramas Faust and Wilhelm Meister in the world of literature. A timeless figure in the history of Western thought, Goethe truly belongs to the entire world. From the treasure trove of his literary wisdom, generations to come will be able to seek solutions to address their pressing problems.

The Man Of Letters

Noble be man,
Helpful and good!
For that alone
Sets him apart
From every other creature
On earth.

The originator of such a poetic definition of an ideal human being was born in the 18th century. He was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. On the day of August 28, 1749, he was born as the first child of Johann Caspar Goethe, and Katherine Elizabeth Textor. His family was residing in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and was a well-to-do family.

Childhood

Goethe had a luxurious childhood. He was greatly influenced by his mother, who was a daughter of the mayor of Frankfurt. She was instrumental in development of Johann’s literary aspirations. His father was a retired lawyer. He was of north German origin and spent his spare time in visiting the neighboring countries like Italy. In Goethe’s well-furnished house, there was a well-stocked library and an art and picture gallery.

As a child, he was not exactly an 'author-in-making', but was quite quick-witted and he excelled in creating and telling stories to his companions and friends. He was appreciated for his story, The New Paris, which found mention in his autobiography. He was also very fond of games and he ratained this characteristic all through his life. The child-like innocence always remained in him. One of his childhood play was the puppet theatre, a gift from his grandmother, the puppet theatre that got famous with Wilhelm Meister.

His Father

Eighteenth-century Germany was divided into small duchies – counties, and cities. But Frankfurt, in spite of many narrow aspects of its life, was quiet a free city of Europe. It had a wider horizon and liberal atmosphere than other European cities of its time. Johann’s father, a tailor’s son, who got the title of Imperial Councilor, reconstructed a beautiful house in the midst of the city. In this house, Johann spent his youthful days. He found his father to be very studious and all too fond of teaching. The element of irony in his works was rooted in the fact that his father was excessively fond of teaching and preaching morals which found due reflection in all his works. In Goethe’s words, his father had a ‘very tender heart, externally maintained, an iron-clad severity.’ Goethe Sr was quite an inflexible person and was a disciplinarian.

Education

Young Johann’s imagination took refuge in the fact that his father had a zeal for education when he tried to invent a story about a dispersed family whose members corresponded with each other in French, Latin, Italian, and Greek. Goethe could write in all these languages.

The characteristics of Goethe’s personality were developed from his inner circle of his childhood: a strict father, a loving younger sister Cornelia, and a pleasing mother – his loving family. Johann was affectionate to his mother, whose only two of six children had survived infancy. This bond of affection grew stronger as his father withdrew himself into more and more demanding legal profession, making him self-centered and isolated from rest of his family.

During his childhood, he set an emotional bond with his sister Cornelia, which found expression in the numerous portrayals of brother-sister relationship, in his later works.

His education depended entirely on private tutors. Though the teaching never went on systematically, it made him aware of a treasure in his own home - his father's library. He made use of almost each and every volume to enrich his knowledge about various subjects like geography by the display of travel books, maps, etc. Johann himself, at a later age used his library to share knowledge. His favorite book was Johann Amos Comenius' Orbis Pictus. Even at that age, he was appealed by the pictorial images presented in the book.

His obsession with neat and good handwriting is legendary. Even his father described him as the Magister artis scribendi. He always emphasized on making carefully drawn handwritings, so much so that he detested to open letters with unclean handwritings. On the other hand, he never paid heed to spellings, punctuation and grammar. In fact, he found grammar rules 'ridiculous'.

Young Johann used to engage himself into lively dialogues with his Latin teacher. This must have been helpful later when the masterpieces like Faust were written.

Johann was a child raised in aristocracy and he enjoyed his distinguished isolation. Once, for a short period, he was put into a class where other pupils were also present. They tried to bully Johann and this enraged him to the extent that one day, he caught hold of the 'coarse' boys and warned them seriously against any such tormenting in future. Trying hard, the boys could not manage to release themselves from his infuriated clutch. He enjoyed ruling over other boys of his age. This resulted in having very few friends in his childhood.

Higher Education

Johann was sent to study law at the University of Leipzig in October of 1765. A 16 years old boy entered the ‘little Paris’, then a leading cultural center. Goethe later described the city in Faust. The world of elegance and fashion made the young provincial feel like ‘a fish out of water.’ Here, he began creating his earlier poems and writings. In Leipzig, he suffered from severe illness. So by the autumn of 1768 he returned home. Soon after his arrival at Weimar, he began to develop his own revolutionary base toward a way of living and an art of writing. He studied alchemy, astrology, and philosophy, knowledge of which left indelible mark on his magnum opus Faust. In 1770, he joined the University of Strassburg. The most auspicious moment of Goethe’s Sturm and Drang era occurred at Strassburg. Here, he found Johann Gottfried Herder, who later assisted Goethe in developing his creative genius. Herder was five years older than Goethe. He was famous as a critic and scholar, rather than a poet. Goethe, for the next four years practiced law with his father. He also wrote two poems May Song and Welcome and Farewell, which are epoch making, heralding a new approach to German lyric.

First Love

The celebrated lyrics were inspired by one of his early loves, Friederike Brion, the daughter of the pastor of Sesenheim. He was introduced to the pastor's family by his friend Weyland. The Brion family was known for its generosity and fun-loving nature. Just to satisfy his curiosity, Johann visited them as a poor theological student. The pastor family welcomed him in and soon he was adopted as a student. There, he was introduced to the pastor's pretty daughter, Friederike. They spent the entire day together, enjoying the pastoral beauty and chatting. Next morning Johann appeared before them as 'Herr Goethe', as his original self. He was accepted in the family whom he visited very regularly. In his later visits they sometimes took shelter in some fishermen's huts from where they were soon driven away by gnats. Though they were having a great time together, the idea of marriage never occurred to him. When his father insisted upon he finishing his doctorate, the heavenly lovestory came to an unwelcome end.

Goethe immortalized Friederike and her liveliness in Dichtung und Wahrheit and in various other poems. About a 100 years later the lovestory was presented in form of an operetta called Friederike.

In his youth, Goethe was very emotional, and this was the reason why he was feeling fearful at times.

Storm And Stress

During the Sturm and Drang (Storm and Stress), a movement for literary liberty, he was recognized as a leading figure. His poem Prothemeus, with its insistence that a person must believe in himself and not in God, became the motto for the whole Sturm and Drang movement.

In 1774, he published his first novel Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers [The Sorrow of Young Werther]. It was inspired by his hopeless affair with Charlotte Buff, another temporary interest. The poetic transfiguration of this love episode crossed the horizons of international success, very fast.

After the publication of his first novel, he went to Switzerland. Soon after a relaxing trip, he was invited by Duke Karl August into the small court of Weimar, where he held numerous high office positions till 1786. Going to Weimar was a major turning point in Goethe’s life. He remained there, despite Napoleon Bonaparte’s invitation to Paris, until his (Goethe) death. During this period, he hardly wrote anything worth mentioning.

The Weimer Affair

At Weimer, he came in touch with Charlotte von Stein, a married woman with seven children. But these things never hindered Goethe's sincere affection for her and he always admired her. It was the first time, that Goethe found himself a person to match his intellect. He addressed many a poems to her and wrote him letters for over 50 long years. He wrote around 1,500 letters to her during his lifetime.

She was a friend, philosopher, guide, and above all an inspiring figure for him. During those years, he wrote mysterious and wonderful lyrics on Charlotte von Stein. Their relationship turned out to be purely platonic in nature. But at the end Goethe left for Italy leaving the fate to decide the course of his life.

Marriage

Goethe who was also interested in science, had during his scientific researches discovered the existence of human inter maxillary bone and formulated the vertebral theory of skull, in the year 1784.

The next two years were spent in Italy. This journey inspired him to write Iphigenie auf tauris and Romishe Elegien. These sensuous poems were more or less inspired by Christiane Vulpius, who became Goethe’s mistress in 1789. He met Christiane in a public park near Rome. The beautiful girl attracted the poet and he took her home. He did not marry her until 1806.

Concentrated On Writing

The journey to Italy significantly influenced his developing commitment to the classical view of art. It also brought to an end his emotional dependence on Charlotte. Now Goethe retired himself from day-to-day governmental duties to concentrate on writing. Although he remained as a general supervisor for arts and sciences and he also worked as a director of the court theaters during 1791 to 1817

Producing The Masterpieces

Goethe had realized that he was an ‘artist’ and resolved to dedicate the rest of his life to writing. During this period, Christiane Vulpius bore him a son in 1789. Goethe finally married her in 1806, to legitimize the child.

From 1794 to 1805, he spent much of his time at Jena, where he developed an intimate friendship with Fredric Sehiller. This union is regarded today as a high point in German literature. Goethe’s creative power reached its peak during his sixties and seventies. He wrote many writings of which Faust and Wilhelm Meister were the most important works created during these two decades.

Last Days

He continued the active contribution of his intuition and pursued it to the very end. He wrote five days before his death, "I have nothing more important to do than to enhance as much as possible that which is and remains in me and to distill my properties."

Goethe lived in his age with all vitality and verve. He was aware of the needs of his time and he went beyond to achieve all that he sought to achieve. He took his last breath at the age of 83 in Weimar, on March 22, 1832, after a short illness. He was buried in the Prince’s Vault on March 26 near the grave of Schiller, who had died over a quarter of century earlier. The Goethe House and Schiller House, memorials constructed in their memories are still maintained in the town, and outside the National Theatre. The statues of these two literary giants remind the world of their immortal creations. Goethe departed, leaving a wealth of literature for generations to inspire and seek as to what he knew and sought to be ‘of a still distant future.’

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