# Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — Beyond Good and Evil character guide

> Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Goethe

**First appearance:** 0002-i-prejudices-of-philosophers

## Snapshot

The German writer Nietzsche keeps invoking as the rare European spirit — proof that greatness can transcend the national narrowness he accuses his countrymen of.

## Who they are

Goethe stands in the book as the counterweight to Schumann's timid lyricism and Wagner's theatrical Romanticism, a name that signals what German culture could be at its most expansive. He is less a presence than a standard: whenever Nietzsche measures the smallness of modern taste, Goethe is the implied exception who was a European event rather than a merely German one. His importance to the argument lies in that contrast, keeping alive the possibility of a higher type against the leveling forces of the age.

## In the story

### [28](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/28)

His prose is cited as a reflection of the 'good old time' of German rococo taste, characterized by a mixture of stiffness and elegance.

### [Chapter 161](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/161)

Cited as a prime example of a poet who shamelessly exploited his own experiences, including his loves, for artistic creation.

### [V: The Natural History of Morals](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/v-the-natural-history-of-morals)

Presented alongside Hafis as an example of the wise old codger who advocates a bold, surrendering licentia morum, a moral system for the exceptional.

### [Morals as Timidity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/198)

Represents the bold, wanton surrender to emotions, a licentia morum permissible only for wise old codgers where it 'no longer has much danger.'

### [The New Warlike Age and German Skepticism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/209)

Implicitly present as the figure who, in Napoleon's eyes, embodied the true 'man' and contradicted the weak, poetical stereotype of the German.

### [Chapter 236](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/236)

Cited for his interpretation of Dante's line as 'the eternally feminine draws us aloft,' which the narrator presents as the target of a noble woman's opposition.

### [On German Depth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/244)

Referenced for his ambiguous, often critical views on Germans, his strategic silence, and his reconstruction of 'Faust' inspired by Napoleon, not German national events.

### [Beyond Nationalism: The European Soul in Art](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/256)

Listed as one of the profound men who worked toward a unified European future, belonging to 'fatherlands' only in weaker moments.

### [Chapter 266](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/266)

Author of the quoted aphorism, which serves as the chapter's sole content.

### [286](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/286)

The opening quote is attributed to Dr. Marianus from Goethe's 'Faust', establishing the initial, positive archetype of the exalted mind.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/endnotes)

His work 'Faust' is referenced, connecting the text to German literary and philosophical tradition.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/characters/goethe
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/characters