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Introductory NoteIntroductory Note
Introductory Note
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the greatest of German men of letters, was
born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, August 28, 1749. His father was a man of
means and position, and he personally supervised the early education of his
son. The young Goethe studied at the universities of Leipsic and Strasburg,
and in 1772 entered upon the practise of law at Wetzlar. At the invitation of
Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, he went in 1775 to live in Weimar, where
he held a succession of political offices, becoming the Duke`s chief adviser.
From 1786 to 1788 he traveled in Italy, and from 1791 to 1817 directed the
ducal theater at Weimar. He took part in the wars against France, 1792-3,
and in the following year began his friendship with Schiller, which lasted
till the latter`s death in 1805. In 1806 he married Christiane Vulpius. From
about 1794 he devoted himself chiefly to literature, and after a life of
extraordinary productiveness died at Weimar, March 22, 1832. The most
important of Goethe`s works produced before he went to Weimar were his tragedy
"Gotz von Berlichingen" (1773), which first brought him fame, and "The Sorrows
of Young Werther," a novel which obtained enormous popularity during the so -
called "Sturm und Drang" period. During the years at Weimar before he knew
Schiller he began "Wilhelm Meister," wrote the dramas, "Iphigenie," "Egmont,"
and "Torquato Tasso," and his "Reinecke Fuchs." To the period of his
friendship with Schiller belong the continuation of "Wilhelm Meister," the
beautiful idyl of "Hermann and Dorothea," and the "Roman Elegies." In the last
period, between Schiller`s death in 1805 and his own, appeared "Faust,"
"Elective Affinities," his autobiographical "Dichtung und Wahrheit" ("Poetry
and Truth"), his "Italian Journey," much scientific work, and a series of
treatises on German Art.
Though the foregoing enumeration contains but a selection from the titles
of Goethe`s best known writings, it suffices to show the extraordinary
fertility and versatility of his genius. Rarely has a man of letters had so
full and varied a life, or been capable of so many-sided a development. His
political and scientific activities, though dwarfed in the eyes of our
generation by his artistic production, yet showed the adaptability of his
talent in the most diverse directions, and helped to give him that balance of
temper and breadth of vision in which he has been surpassed by no genius of
the ancient or modern world.
In 1775, when Goethe was twenty-six, and before he went to Weimer, he
began to write "Egmont." After working on it at intervals for twelve years, he
finished it at Rome, in 1787.
The scene of the drama is laid in the Low Countries at the beginning of
the revolt against Spain. In the fifteenth century Philip of Burgundy had
usurped dominion over several of the provinces of the Netherlands, and through
him they had passed into the power of his descendant, the Emperor Charles V.
This powerful ruler abolished the constitutional rights of the provinces, and
introduced the Inquisition in order to stamp out Protestantism. Prominent
among his officers was the Fleming, Lamoral, Count Egmont, upon whom he
lavished honors and opportunities of service-opportunities so well improved
that, by his victories over the French at Saint-Quentin (1557) and
Gravelines (1558) Egmont made a reputation as one of the most brilliant
generals in Europe, and became the idol of his countrymen. When 1559 a new
Regent of the Netherlands was to be created, the people hoped that Philip II,
who had succeeded Charles, would choose Egmont; but instead he appointed his
half-sister Margaret, Duchess of Parma. Under the new Regent the persecution
of the Protestants was rigorously pressed, and in 1565 Egmont, though a
Catholic, was sent to Madrid to plead for clemency. He was received by the
King with every appearance of cordiality, but shortly after his return home
the Duke of Alva was sent to the Netherlands with instructions to put down
with an iron hand all resistance to his master`s will. How terribly he carried
out his orders has been told by Prescott and Motley. Egmont was an early
victim, but his martyrdom, with that of Count Horn, and later the
assassination of William of Orange, roused the Netherlands to a resistance
that ended only with the complete throwing off of the Spanish yoke.
Such in outline is the background chosen by Goethe for his tragedy. With
many changes in detail, the dramatist has still preserved a picture of a
historical situation of absorbing interest, and has painted a group of
admirable portraits. The drama has long been a favorite on the stage, where it
enjoys the advantage of Beethoven`s musical setting.
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