Goethe (Life & Times). Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Goethe (Life & Times)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was an exceptionally prolific and versatile writer. As a student, he composed pastoral plays in the style of the waning Rococo. With Goetz of Berlichingen of the Iron Hand, a drama conceived in the spirit of Shakespeare, he joined the avant-garde Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) authors. At twenty-five he wrote the epistolary novel Sorrows of Young Werther, eliciting fervent responses among those who rejected the traditions of the Enlightenment. In his tragedy Faust, which evolved over a sixty-year period and for which he is best known, he created a prototype of the Romantic hero. His lyric poetry has been translated into many languages. A scientist active in various fields, including botany and the theory of colours, he pondered aspects of evolution well before Darwin. Based on his studies in literary theory he developed a concept of world literature that he hoped would foster communication among writers of different nations.