Goethe and Napoleon

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Gerhart Hoffmeister (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Literature Topic

Dates

Date of occurrence 1808

Places

Germany (Location)
France (Involved)

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Among the outstanding encounters between rulers and poets with major insights of literary, cultural, or political consequences are Queen Eleanor (1122-1204) and the troubadours, Emperor Charles IV and Petrarch (meetings in 1354-55), and Queen Elizabeth I and her entourage of court-poets (e.g., Edmund Spenser; Shakespeare). The meetings between Goethe and Napoleon are of particular interest since they shed a revealing light on both geniuses at the height of their respective career.

The historical constellation

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) had achieved worldwide renown through his Sturm und Drang works and his collaboration with Friedrich Schiller during their classicist period. After Napoleon defeated Prussia at the battle of Jena and Auerstedt (1806),

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2063 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Goethe and Napoleon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=17630, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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