Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749–1832
Biography
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, scientist and statesman who lived from 1749 to 1832. He was born in Frankfurt and settled in Weimar in 1775, where he spent most of his adult life serving the duchy of Saxe-Weimar as an official and adviser. Together with his friend Friedrich Schiller he is linked with Weimar Classicism, the movement that shaped German literature around 1800.
His output covered nearly every form. The novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, published in 1774, made him famous across Europe. Faust, a drama he worked on for most of his life, is the work most often treated as his masterpiece. He also wrote scientific treatises on botany, anatomy and colour, which show how far his curiosity reached beyond literature.
The catalogue holds Die Wahlverwandtschaften in its German original. Goethe published the novel in 1809, and its title is a term from chemistry for the preference some substances show for particular partners. He applies the idea to a married couple, Eduard and Charlotte, whose settled life on their estate is disturbed when attachments form among the people around them.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
Die Wahlverwandtschaften
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Eduard and Charlotte, married at last after earlier marriages to others, live calmly on their country estate until they invite two guests: Eduard's friend the Captain and Charlotte's young niece Ottilie. Like chemical elements that leave old bonds for new ones, the four are…
Summary written by Claude Opus 5.5.