This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. The literary sensation The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) launched its twenty-five year old author on the world stage overnight. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel gave voice to young bourgeois intellectuals who despaired of finding fulfillment and authenticity in a hierarchical, convention-bound society. In the novel, Werther, a social rebel with artistic leanings,...

German writer Johann Goethe's novella "Elective Affinities" is a singular book which attracts both creative minds and pragmatic minds. Romantics at heart will be drawn to the convoluted love affair; married couple Eduard and Charlotte invite two close friends to live with them on their idyllic estate for a short time. The innocent invitation takes an unexpected turn though, as each of the spouses become attracted to their guests. Eduard falls in love...

In "Egmont", Goethe relates the fight of Count Egmont (1522-1568) against the despotic Duke of Alba. Egmont is a famous Dutch warrior and the Duke of Alba represents the Spanish invader. Though under threat of arrest, Egmont refuses to run away and give up his ideal of liberty. Imprisoned and abandoned because of the cowardice of his people, and despite the desperate efforts of his mistress Klaerchen, he is sentenced to death. Thus, faced with her...

In the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) one can find the seed of most German thought, literature, science and theology. A hugely influential man, not only on Germany but on the rest of Europe, Goethe's best known work is the two-part play Faust . Goethe was a privy-councilor to the Duchy of Weimar and his interest in foreign literature helped birth the concept of the world literature. George Eliot called Goethe "Germany's greatest...

Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend who makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge. The meaning of the word and name has been reinterpreted through the ages. "Faust" has taken on a connotation distinct from its original use, and is often used today to describe a person whose headstrong desire for self-fulfillment leads him or her in a diabolical direction.

Best known today as the author of Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) first exploded into the public consciousness with The Sorrows of Young Werther when he was twenty-four. He was already a respected poet by then; and in addition to these forms, he wrote travelogues, autobiographical sketches, essays, letters, and proverbs in rhyme and prose. This collection offers outstanding examples of each genre from the great German writer's prolific...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was one of the greatest artists of the German Romantic period. He was a poet, playwright, novelist, and natural philosopher. David E. Wellbery is the LeRoy T. and Margaret Deffenbaugh Carlson University Professor in the Department of Germanic Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. One of the great classics of European literature, Faust is Goethe's most complex and profound work....

Exceptionally fine poetry by Germany's greatest literary figure spans a wide range of styles, forms and moods, offering a rich selection of the poet's verse - from his earliest, "An den Schlaf" ("To Sleep"), written when he was 18, to his last great poem, "Verdächtnis" ("Legacy"), written when he was 80.