Representative Men · Character

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The writer who is Bonaparte's other half — a poet quite domesticated in the nineteenth century, breathing its air and taking away, by his colossal parts, the reproach of weakness on its intellectual works.

major

Also known as Goethe, VII Goethe

First appearance: VII: Goethe; or, the Writer

As a major figure in Representative Men, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Referenced indirectly as a representative writer whose spirit diffuses itself.

In the storyI: Uses of Great MenOpen this moment free

See Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in I: Uses of Great Men Book page

Free preview opens at this moment — character cards, Character Web, and themes sit beside the text as you read.

Emerson sets Goethe against Napoleon as the representative of the century's inner life: where Bonaparte embodies its popular external aims, Goethe embodies its poet, a man impossible at any earlier time. He appears when general culture has spread and smoothed down all sharp individual traits, when there is no poet but scores of poetic writers, no Columbus but hundreds of post-captains with transit-telescope and barometer. He matters because he shows what the scholar or writer can still be in an age without heroes — and whether such a man can carry the power and duties of literature without the heroic frame that once sustained it.

Continue beside the text

The fuller portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in VII: Goethe; or, the Writer

Character Web

13 connections

A slice of how Johann Wolfgang von Goethe sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Cultural and Historical Exemplars
Men of Action and World
Protagonist
Philosophers and Poets

+8 more in the full Character Web

Open in reader

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Resolution.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage is the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of Emerson’s argu…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

Follow the arc while reading

In the story

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

I: Uses of Great Men
Referenced indirectly as a representative writer whose spirit diffuses itself.
Plato; or, the Philosopher
Listed among Plato's debtors, along with St. Augustine, Copernicus, Newton, Behmen, and Swedenborg.
Plato: New Readings
Described as 'this eldest Goethe,' hating varnish and falsehood, and delighting in revealing the real at the base of the accidental.
Swedenborg; or, the Mystic
Mentioned in the context of the difficulty of proving originality among geniuses, alongside Swedenborg.
IV: Montaigne; or, the Skeptic
Mentioned in the context of the correspondence between Goethe and Schiller, which was scarcely more kind than that of Pope and Swift in describing mankind.
VII: Goethe; or, the Writer
Presented as the representative writer, the type of culture, and the lawgiver of art; his works and methods are analyzed in depth.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe unlock in the free preview.

See Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in VII: Goethe; or, the Writer

See Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in I: Uses of Great Men