“Optional Connections” by Goethe | do | 08 02 2024 | 11:05

February 8, 2024, at 11:05

Elective Connections, published in 1809, was received partly cheerfully and partly negatively by Goethe's contemporaries. His own experiences were also included, as Goethe emphasized in his conversations with Eckermann in 1829 and 1830: “There is not a line in the Optional Connections that I have not experienced myself, and there is more in it than anyone can comprehend from reading.” It was like that once upon a time.”

The married couple Edward and Charlotte live in their country house in their older years. The invitation of Edward's childhood friend, who is in a perilous situation, and Charlotte Ottilie's niece changes everything, and they soon feel a mutual attraction to each other. The involvement begins with all its tragic consequences.

The descriptions of emotional confusion and the play with erotic identities make Optional Connections a scandalous book. Goethe's brilliant and analytical description of people and their conflicts without any idealism or psychologism, but with much symbolism, makes it an enigmatic book.

service

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Optional engagements. a novel. German Paperback Publisher 2021 (the edition corresponds exactly to the “Hamburg Edition of Goethe's Works” published by Erich Tronz, Commentary and Epilogue: Benno von Wiese)

series

Planning

summary