Synopses & Reviews
Goethe was a master of the short prose form. His two narrative cycles, Conversations of German Refugees and Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, both written during a high point of his career, address various social issues and reveal his experimentation with narrative and perspective. A traditional cycle of novellas, Conversations of German Refugees deals with the impact and significance of the French Revolution and suggests Goethe's ideas on the social function of his art. Goethe's last novel, Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, is a sequel to Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and to Conversations of German Refugees and is considered to be his most remarkable novel in form.
Synopsis
Goethe was a master of the short prose form. His two narrative cycles, Conversations of German Refugees and Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, both written during a high point of his career, address various social issues and reveal his experimentation with narrative and perspective. A traditional cycle of novellas, Conversations of German Refugees deals with the impact and significance of the French Revolution and suggests Goethe's ideas on the social function of his art. Goethe's last novel, Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, is a sequel to Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and to Conversations of German Refugees and is considered to be his most remarkable novel in form.
Table of Contents
Prefatory Note ix
Introduction I
Conversations of German Refugees 13
The Fairy Tale 70
Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years or The Renunciants, 93
BOOK ONE
Chapter One 97
The Flight into Egypt 97
Chapter Two 101
Saint Joseph the Second 101
The Visitation 106
The Lily Stalk 109
Chapter Three 112
Chapter Four 116
Chapter Five 126
The Deranged Pilgrim 128
Chapter Six 138
Chapter Seven 148
Chapter Eight 153
Who Is the Traitor? 153
Chapter Nine 164
Chapter Ten 174
Chapter Eleven 184
The Nut-brown Maid 184
Chapter Twelve 195
BOOK TWO
Chapter One 199
Chapter Two 206
Chapter Three 212
The Man of Fifty Years 212
Chapter Four 227
Chapter Five 237
Chapter Six 253
Chapter Seven 254
Chapter Eight 267
Chapter Nine 277
Chapter Ten 281
Chapter Eleven 284
REFLECTIONS IN THE SPIRIT OF THE WANDERERS: ART, ETHICS, NATURE 294
BOOK THREE
Chapter One 313
Chapter Two 319
Chapter Three 321
Chapter Four 330
Chapter Five 332
Chapter Six 342
The New Melusine 343
Chapter Seven 358
Chapter Eight 359
The Perilous Wager 360
Chapter Nine 363
Chapter Ten 369
Not Too Far 370
Chapter Eleven 378
Chapter Twelve 381
Chapter Thirteen 385
Chapter Fourteen 400
Chapter Fifteen 409
Chapter Sixteen 412
Chapter Seventeen 414
Chapter Eighteen 416
FROM MAKARIE'S ARCHIVES 417
Notes 437