University of Kentucky UKnowledge German Literature European Languages and Literatures 1973 Goethe and Rousseau: Resonances of the Mind Carl Hammer Jr. Texas Tech University Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Hammer, Carl Jr., "Goethe and Rousseau: Resonances of the Mind" (1973). German Literature. 3. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_german_literature/3 GOETHE AND ROUSSEAU This page intentionally left blank Carl Hammer,Jr. GOETHE AND ROUSSEAU Resonances of the Mind THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY To my wife, Mae ISBN 978-0-8131-5260-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72--91665 Copyright© 1973 by The University Press of Kentucky A statewide cooperative scholarly publishing agency serving Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky State College, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506 Contents Foreword vn Explanation of Page References vm Introduction 1 I The Cultural Background 10 II Jean-Jacques according to Goethe 32 III Literary Echoes from Four Decades 57 IV Memories and Memoirs 81 V Of Love and Marriage 107 VI Ideals of Culture 122 VII Utopian Visions 137 VIII God, Man, and Cosmos 151 Abbreviations of Titles Used in Notes and Bibliography 171 Notes 173 Selected Bibliography 191 Index 217 This page intentionally left blank Foreword The initial plan of the following study proposed a comparison of Die Wahlverwandtschaften with La Nouveiie Heloise. It soon became appar­ ent that a re-examination of the entire Goethe-Rousseau problem was advisable. Many circumstances (among them, frequently, "the challenge of the day," to quote Goethe) combined to delay completion of the in­ vestigation; nevertheless, it has thereby acquired a broader scope and prof­ ited from numerous publications of recent date. Direct quotations of prose passages are given in English translations which, with occasional minor exceptions, are my own. In the case of titles, verse, and short expressions of special import, the original is retained. For Goethe, except as otherwise noted, I have followed the Weimar edition (containing all his extant references to Rousseau, outside of those re­ ported in the conversations or correspondence of others) . I have used the Du Pont edition of Rousseau's works, because of its readable print, in preference to the more usually quoted Hachette version. Completeness of bibliography-so immense in the case of both writers-plainly defies attainment. Still, I believe that in my search ex­ tending through two decades I have missed relatively few pertinent items, and hardly any that would have altered the picture essentially. To the late Professor Albert W. Aron, of the University of Illinois, I am indebted for his having inspired me to undertake this investigation. I gratefully acknowledge generous research grants from Louisiana State University and Texas Tech University. It is a pleasure to express my obli­ gation to the librarians of the following universities: Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Texas, Tulane, and Yale, and of the Library of Congress for their assistance. With sincere appreciation I mention the perennial en­ couragement received from two former colleagues, Professor John G. Frank, formerly of American University, and Dr. John T. Krumpel­ mann, Professor Emeritus of German, Louisiana State University, as well as from my present colleague, Professor Theodor W. Alexander. Finally, I thank the sponsors of the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference for honoring me with the first annual Conference Award. VII Explanation of Page References Sources of quotations from Goethe and Rousseau are indicated (usually in the text) as follows: W.A. I = "Weimarer Ausgabe," first section (Werke, or literary works). Volume and page numbers are listed by Arabic numerals, with a colon between them; e.g., 16:301. W.A. I, 16:301 is therefore a typical reference to Goethe's creative writings, except that line numbers are given for quotations from poems and verse dramas. A superscript means that the volume has two parts; thus W.A. I, 25 1 signifies volume 25, part 1. W.A. II (containing the scientific works) is similarly quoted. For the diaries (W.A. III), letters (W.A. IV), and conversations (from various sources), only the dates are cited. In exceptional instances the "Gedenkausgabe" is listed, as for example, G.A., 6:240. In the case of Rousseau, O.C. = "CEuvres completes," edited by Musset-Pathay, with designation of volume and page like that for Goethe's works; viz., O.C., 9:442. On occasions when the Musset-Pathay edition was not accessible, single-volume texts of the "Classiques Garnier" were quoted (as C.G.). Introduction Within the scholarship of comparative literature there is, of course, a plethora of "influence studies," so much so that one hesitates to add an­ other such item to the bibliography. The cultural relationship between such giants as Goethe and Rousseau is of such obvious importance, how­ ever, that it merits investigation, despite the critical dangers involved. The linkage has been attempted before and remains a debated topic of Franco-German literary relations. For more than a century the popular view held that Goethe's interest in Rousseau ended with the "Sturm und Drang" era, and echoes of this now outmoded notion still persist. Rous­ seau remained a vital inspirational force for Goethe during Goethe's en­ tire lifetime, as comparative study of Goethe's post-Werther works will demonstrate. The review of literature on this subject reveals the limited scope and fragmentation of previous research, despite the clash of view­ point, and highlights the timeliness of a comprehensive treatment. Fortunately, changes in the contemporary images of Rousseau and Goethe simplify a discussion of Rousseau's lifelong importance for Goethe. The Rousseaubild of our time, created by Bernard Groethuysen,l Jean Guehenno,2 Leon Emery,3 and others, is more sympathetic than the nineteenth-century image depicted by Saint-Marc Girardin,4 Jules Le­ maitre,5 and Georg Brandes. 6 The gradual trend toward a better under­ standing of Rousseau received new impetus from the founding of the Societe Jean-Jacques Rousseau at Geneva in 1905.7 Likewise, today's concept of Goethe is more realistic than that of 1900. Late nineteenth-century scholars of the positivistic school too often represented Goethe as conforming to their own moral stringency. To a "human, all-too human" portrait of the author of the Confessions they opposed an "Olympian" Goethe, whose foibles had to be glossed over, if not ignored completely. That mistaken idea, though long in vogue, is now wholly outdated in favor of a Goethe no longer elevated to Jovian heights, but viewed instead on a more human level.8 Emil Staiger,9 Heinrich Meyer,10 Barker Fairley,U and Albert Fuchs/2 to name but a few, have helped to make this change. 1 GOETHE AND ROUSSEAU To chase after direct influence, as Erich Schmidt and his contempo­ raries were fond of doing, contradicts the whole mode of thinking of a man like Goethe, who derogatorily used the foreign word "Influenz" instead of the German "Einfluss." The octogenarian Goethe assured Eckermann (December 16, 1828) that the question of a famous author's originality was ridiculous, insisting: "We indeed possess inherent capa­ bilities, but we owe our development to a thousand influences of a great world from which we appropriate what we can and what is suited to us. I owe much to the Greeks and the French; I have become infinitely in­ debted to Shakespeare, Sterne, and Goldsmith. Yet the sources of my culture are not established by that; it would lead one endlessly afield, and would not be necessary, either. The important thing is that one should have a soul that loves the true and takes it where it finds it." This quotation indicates that Goethe was strongly aware of a problem which is still controversial in comparative literature circles and reminds us that one might well essay a medial objectivity toward the extreme poles of opinion about the extent of Rousseau's impact upon Goethe. Ulrich Weisstein summarizes the dangerous aspects of influence-seeking, calling the concept of literary influence the "Schliisselbegriff" of all comparative investigations. It presupposes the existence of two works: the one from which it proceeds and the one it affectsP Weisstein insists that one can­ not speak of influence in the literal sense of studies of analogies and par­ allels, since at most it is a matter of affinities (p. 95), and he urges observance of an equilibrium between rapports exh~rieurs and rapports interieurs ( p. 102). This book attempts to preserve that equilibrium. The introductory discussions of the Rousseaukult in Goethe's Germany, Geothe's ac­ quaintance with eighteenth-century French literature, and his recorded comments about Rousseau constitute rapports exterieurs. The correspon­ dences between the actual works of the two writers, especially affinities where there is no indication of direct influence, lend a balance as rapports interieurs. It seems advisable, then, to subdivide the term "influence" by sep­ arating probable but less easily provable points of contact from those which Goethe recognized and acknowledged. We shall deal here with: 1 ) general similarities in personal experience and character as well as in style, motifs, and characterization; 2) instances of Goethe's adopting specific ideas to which Rousseau gave currency, but which may have 2 INTRODUCTION reached Goethe indirectly; 3) Goethe's specific admission of conscious use of Rousseau's ideas, formulations, and phraseology.