Goethe, Volume 9: Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Eric A. Blackall

Overview

An authoritative English translation of one of the most important works in the history of the novel

Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1795–1796), Goethe’s second novel, is a foundational work in the history of the genre—perhaps the first Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story focusing on the growth and self-realization of the main character. The story centers on Wilhelm, a young man living in the mid-1700s who strives to break free from the restrictive bourgeois world of his upbringing and seek fulfillment as an actor and playwright. Goethe’s novel had a huge impact on the Romantics. Hegel, Schelling, Novalis, and Schopenhauer considered it one of the most important novels yet written. Schlegel famously called it one of the “three tendencies of the age,” along with the French Revolution and the philosophy of Fichte. And Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann composed songs to poems from the novel. It also had a major influence on nineteenth-century British writers, including Thomas Carlyle, who was its first English translator, and George Eliot. Drawn from Princeton’s authoritative collected works of Goethe, this is the definitive English version of a landmark of world literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691043449
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/23/1995
Series:	Goethe , #9
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	7.75(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

BOOK ONE 1
Chapter One 1
Chapter Two 2
Chapter Three 4
Chapter Four 6
Chapter Five 7
Chapter Six 9
Chapter Seven I I
Chapter Eight 13
Chapter Nine 15
Chapter Ten 17
Chapter Eleven 20
Chapter Twelve 22
Chapter Thirteen 23
Chapter Fourteen 27
Chapter Fifteen 30
Chapter Sixteen 34
Chapter Seventeen 36
BOOK TWO 41
Chapter One 41
Chapter Two 42
Chapter Three 47
Chapter Four 49
Chapter Five 59
Chapter Six 60
Chapter Seven 61
Chapter Eight 64
Chapter Nine 65
Chapter Ten 69
Chapter Eleven 71
Chapter Twelve 75
Chapter Thirteen 7 7
Chapter Fourteen 79
BOOK THREE 83
Chapter One 83
Chapter Two 87
Chapter Three 90
Chapter Four
Chapter Five 95
Chapter Six 96
Chapter Seven 99
Chapter Eight 101
Chapter Nine 105
Chapter Ten 109
Chapter Eleven 112
Chapter Twelve 115
BOOK FOUR 119
Chapter One 119
Chapter Two 123
Chapter Three 127
Chapter Four 129
Chapter Five 131
Chapter Six 133
Chapter Seven 135
Chapter Eight 136
Chapter Nine 138
Chapter Ten 140
Chapter Eleven 141
Chapter Twelve 143
Chapter Thirteen 144
Chapter Fourteen 146
Chapter Fifteen 148
Chapter Sixteen 152
Chapter Seventeen 158
Chapter Eighteen 160
Chapter Nineteen 163
Chapter Twenty 166
BOOK FIVE 169
Chapter One 169
Chapter Two 171
Chapter Three 174
Chapter Four 176
Chapter Five 179
Chapter Six 182
Chapter Seven 185
Chapter Eight 187
Chapter Nine 189
Chapter Ten 190
Chapter Eleven 194
Chapter Twelve 196
Chapter Thirteen 198
ChapterFourteen 202
Chapter Fifteen 203
Chapter Sixteen 206
BOOK SIX: CONFESSIONS OF A BEAUTIFUL SOUL 217
BOOK SEVEN 257
Chapter One 257
Chapter Two 261
Chapter Three 263
Chapter Four 266
Chapter Five 270
Chapter Six 273
Chapter Seven 284
Chapter Eight 288
Chapter Nine 301
BOOK EIGHT 305
Chapter One 305
Chapter Two 310
Chapter Three 316
Chapter Four 324
Chapter Five 330
Chapter Six 340
Chapter Seven 345
Chapter Eight 352
Chapter Nine 354
Chapter Ten 363
Notes 375
Afterword 381