Goethe
German literary titan
Goethe is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), the German writer whose works include *Faust* and *The Sorrows of Young Werther*.
He is considered Germany's greatest literary figure, comparable in stature to Shakespeare in English.
The name appears in discussions of Romanticism, world literature, and German culture: Have you read your Goethe?
Legendary deal-with-devil maker
- MephistophelesSoul-bargaining demon
- GretchenGerman feminine given name
- WeimarThuringian city, cultural landmark
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
theater · stage · tragedy · monologue · soliloquy · director · premiere · performance
Legendary deal-with-devil maker
- IphigeniaMycenaean princess nearly sacrificed
- bildungsromanFiction of psychological maturation
- epistolaryPertaining to letter-writing
- lyricismExpressive, melodic quality
versification · prose · poetry · tragedy · epic · German literature · aesthetics · critique
Philosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- pantheismReality itself is holy
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- aestheticsTheory of beauty
- idealismBelief in noble principles
transcendental · faustian · striving · self-cultivation · wholeness · polarity · metamorphosis · genius
Thuringian city, cultural landmark
- FrankfurtGerman financial capital
- StrasbourgAlsatian regional capital
- LeipzigMajor Saxon metropolis
- ItalyBoot-shaped European nation
polymath · statesman · autobiography · Grand Tour · Rome · Naples
Study of structural forms
- metamorphosisProfound biological restructuring
- botanyScience of flora
- osteologyScientific study of bones
- opticsScience of illumination
color theory · prismatic · Newton · chromaticism · geology · mineralogy · anatomy · observation
Intense prolonged craving
- emotionComplex psychological state
- passionIntense emotional drive
- sensibilityRefined emotional responsiveness
- sentimentalityExcessive tender emotion
melancholy · nature · sublime · imagination · individualism · genius · inspiration · creativity
Faust
Legendary deal-with-devil maker
- MephistophelesSoul-bargaining demon
- GretchenGerman feminine given name
- WeimarThuringian city, cultural landmark
playwright · theater · stage · tragedy · monologue · soliloquy · director · premiere · performance · Stella
Faust
Legendary deal-with-devil maker
- IphigeniaMycenaean princess nearly sacrificed
- bildungsromanFiction of psychological maturation
- epistolaryPertaining to letter-writing
lyricism · versification · prose · poetry · tragedy · epic · German literature · aesthetics · critique · Mignon
humanism
Philosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- pantheismReality itself is holy
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- aestheticsTheory of beauty
idealism · transcendental · faustian · striving · self-cultivation · wholeness · polarity · metamorphosis · genius · Spinoza
Weimar
Thuringian city, cultural landmark
- FrankfurtGerman financial capital
- StrasbourgAlsatian regional capital
- LeipzigMajor Saxon metropolis
Italy · polymath · statesman · autobiography · Grand Tour · Rome · Naples
morphology
Study of structural forms
- metamorphosisProfound biological restructuring
- botanyScience of flora
- osteologyScientific study of bones
optics · color theory · prismatic · Newton · chromaticism · geology · mineralogy · anatomy · observation · empiricism
yearning
Intense prolonged craving
- emotionComplex psychological state
- passionIntense emotional drive
- sensibilityRefined emotional responsiveness
sentimentality · melancholy · nature · sublime · imagination · individualism · genius · inspiration · creativity · expression
- 18th Century WritersVoltaire, Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Goldsmith
- German AuthorsThomas Mann, Mann, Franz Kafka, Kafka, Hermann Hesse
- German GreatsBeethoven, Bach, Marx, Karl Marx, Bismarck
- German WritersFranz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Bertolt Brecht
- PolymathsLeonardo da Vinci, Aristotle, polymath, Benjamin Franklin, Leibniz
- German PlaywrightsBertolt Brecht, Muller
GoetheShakespeare
Elizabethan dramatist and poet
Adolf Hitler · Dante · Joseph Goebbels · Victor Hugo · Pushkin