Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Life, Philosophy, and Legacy

Introduction: A Universal Creative Genius

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is widely regarded as one of the greatest visionaries and creative geniuses the world has ever produced. A man of multiple talents, Goethe was a poet, critic, painter, scientist, statesman, philosopher, and theatre manager (Willoughby, p. 9). However, Goethe's versatility of talent has not always been fully recognized, because his unconventional approach to the subjects that interested him was, at times, beyond the comprehension of many scholarly and ordinary minds alike. As a result, Goethe has long been better known for the literary genius he displayed in his novels, essays, poems, and plays. This perception has changed only recently, with contemporary scholars in science, human behavior, philosophy, and literature now acknowledging Goethe's visionary view of the universe and human nature. Goethe was, in short, a creative thinker who was far ahead of his time.

It is often said that a more complete understanding of any literary work is gained through an understanding of the person who wrote it. This maxim is certainly true in the case of Goethe. As Willoughby (p. 9–11) observes, the complexity and range of Goethe's works can only be appreciated through an understanding of the varied pattern of his life as it developed in accordance with the rhythmical growth of his own being. Only such an understanding can throw light on Goethe's transitions from classicism to romanticism, and on his creation of whole new genres in thinking and in literature. Goethe himself indicated as much in his autobiographical work Poetry and Truth. Kaufmann (p. 49) points out that Goethe's message was that "life and work must be studied together as an organic unity and in terms of development." In a similar vein, Stelzig opines that Goethe wrote Poetry and Truth as a means to self-completion (Vincent, 2003).

The view that life and work must be studied together as an organic unity pretty much sums up Goethe's philosophy in work and in life. Indeed, his belief in the organic unity of existence led him to frequently reveal personal details in his writings in a manner reminiscent of Freud's "free association" technique — going so far as to disclose his own dual nature in works such as Wilhelm Meister, Faust, and the Conversations (Goethe, p. 131).

Goethe's Early Life and Intellectual Formation

Goethe's openness and candor are reflected not just in his work but also in the manner in which he led his life. Born in Frankfurt on August 28, 1749, Johann Wolfgang Goethe was the son of a lawyer and a mother who had descended from petty nobility. His father, Johann Caspar Goethe, was a strict disciplinarian who was determined that his son should develop his intellectual faculties to the fullest extent possible. As a result, the young Goethe studied several languages, the art of metrics, and the natural sciences at a very early age (Rascoe, p. 325).

Beyond his early exposure to the academic world, Goethe was deeply influenced by his parents. True to his philosophy of organic unity in existence, Goethe ascribed two of his dominant characteristics to family influences in the famous quatrain: "From Father came life's earnest poise, / A bearing strict and stable, / From Mother dear my sense of joys / And will to spin a fable" (Willoughby, p. 11–12). Yet Goethe's mind was by no means easily molded by strong wills or external influences. This is evident in George Henry Lewes' account of how Goethe's doubts about conventional religion were aroused when, during a terrible thunderstorm, the whole household panicked and began praying fervently to appease an angry God. According to Lewes, this experience — and presumably others like it — led a deeply reflective Goethe to develop a comprehensive view of the overall beneficial nature of the universe (Neuhaus, 2000).

Goethe thus possessed a reflective mind that was eternally contemplating and synthesizing the meaning and pattern of existence. It is therefore hardly surprising that he made full use of the opportunities presented by university life in Leipzig. Although he was sent to study law, Goethe paid little attention to his legal studies. Instead, he chose to explore literature, write poetry, participate in student activities, and fall in love. He did subsequently graduate as a lawyer from the University of Strasbourg, but he clearly concentrated more on literature and philosophy there. Goethe completed a considerable body of lyrical verse and a drama, Götz von Berlichingen, while in Strasbourg (Rascoe, p. 326).

Years of Struggle and the Move to Weimar

All was not smooth sailing for Goethe. On the contrary, his early adult years in Frankfurt — where he practiced as a lawyer until he left for Weimar — were a period of painful transition and development (Willoughby, p. 16). So great was his distress that Goethe wrote The Sorrows of Young Werther to save himself from suicide and as a means of purging from his consciousness all the self-doubt, prejudices, and fears that plagued him (Rascoe, p. 322). His problems were finally resolved when the Duke of Weimar invited him to make his home in that city and to assist with affairs of state (Willoughby, p. 18–19).

Life in Weimar, and thereafter, saw Goethe maturing as both a person and a thinker. As Kaufmann (p. 48) notes, Goethe took his official duties as a member of the Weimar government seriously, yet managed to devote a great deal of time to the arts and natural sciences. He was credited with an anatomical discovery, an important botanical hypothesis, an intricate theory of colors, and the directorship of the Weimar theatre. Goethe's achievements in such diverse fields reflect his conviction that an organic unity pervades the universe — one that can be discerned through independent contemplation of nature and life (Vietor, p. 55).

Conclusion: A Heightened Consciousness of Existence

Thus, there can be little doubt that Goethe was a creative thinker, poet extraordinaire, and literary genius who possessed a rare capacity for understanding the world and human nature. This is the primary reason why he is held in such great respect the world over. There is one further reason to respect Goethe: he lived a long and productive life because he possessed a heightened consciousness of existence. This consciousness is reflected in lines discovered after his death: "And so my life took its course, amid activity and enjoyment, suffering and resistance, amid the love and approval, the hatred and dislike of others. Let any man whom a like fate has befallen, find himself mirrored in mine" (Willoughby, p. 27).

Works Cited

Amrine, F. "Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Accessed 24 April 1995.

Amrine, F. "Goethe's Science in the Twentieth Century." Goethe in the Twentieth Century. Ed. Alexej Ugrinsky. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.

Goethe, John W. "Goethe and Modern Psychiatry." Goethe in the Twentieth Century. Ed. Alexej Ugrinsky. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.

Kaufmann, W. From Shakespeare to Existentialism: Studies in Poetry, Religion, and Philosophy. Boston: Beacon Press, 1959.

Neuhaus, R. J. "The Liberated Lost." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. October 2000, p. 81.

Rascoe, B. Titans of Literature: From Homer to the Present. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1932.

Smith, P. D. "German Literature and the Scientific World-View in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries." Journal of European Studies. Vol. 27:4, p. 389 ff.

Vietor, K. Goethe: The Thinker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950.

Vincent, D. "Eugene L. Stelzig, the Romantic Subject in Autobiography: Rousseau and Goethe." Biography. Vol. 26:3, p. 479 ff.

Willoughby, L. A. "Goethe — The Man." Goethe on Human Creativeness, and Other Goethe Essays. Ed. Rolf King, Assoc. Ed. Calvin Brown and Erich Funke. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1950.

Wilson, E. O. "Back from Chaos." The Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 281:3, p. 41 ff.