The Life and Times of Goethe (pt. 2051)

Volume: pt. 2051 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1880 Original Publisher: Little, Brown, and company Subjects: Authors, German Literary Criticism / European / German Literary Criticism / European / German Poetry / General Poetry / Continental European Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: LECTURE II. PLAN OF THE LECTURES. -- GOETHE'S FIRST FRANKFORT DAYS. -- STUDY OF LAW IN LEIPSIC. -- CHANGE TO STRASBORG. /OETHE'S life is divided into two periods, of unequal J length, -- the Frankfort period, from 1749 to 1776 ; and the Weimar period, from 1776 to 1832. Almost all his greatest works were begun in the Frankfort period ; " Werther," " Gotz," and " Clavigo " were then published. The Weimar period must also be divided. A complete episode is concluded in the first ten years, extending from his twenty-sixth to his thirty-sixth year. When he went to Weimar, he resigned the idea of devoting himself wholly to poetry. Having accepted a place of great responsibility, he determined to be governed solely by the desire to devote his whole ability to the service of the Prince and the interests of his people. Only his leisure hours were to be reserved for poetry. In this epoch " Iphige- nia" was finished in its prose form; and " Tasso," " Eg- mont," "Wilhelm Meister," and "Faust" (for all of which he had brought materials with him from Frankfort) were carried forward. Then follows the one striking year in Italy, which divides the Weimar epoch. We may regard this brief period, so rich in its experiences (from 1786 to 1787), either as the conclusion of the first, or as the beginningMATERIALS FOR THE STUDY. 19 of the second period. In it " Tasso," " Iphigenia," and " Egmont " receive...