Wilhelm Meister
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
,_Wilhelm_Meister,_Stahlstich_von_A._Muttenthaler,_D2421-18.jpg)
Wilhelm Meister is the main character in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novels Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and its sequel Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years.
Wilhelm Meister's story concerns how he comes from a family of businessmen and desires to transcend bourgeois life. In Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, published in 1795–1796, he tries to achieve this by joining a theatre troupe and a secret society. In Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, published in 1821 and revised substantially in 1829, he travels widely without a permanent residence.[1][2]
Goethe chose the name Wilhelm as a nod to William Shakespeare, whose works feature prominently in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. The last name Meister, meaning Master, reflects the character's capability and active role.[3] A recurring motif throughout both novels is Meister's fascination with the painting The King's Sick Son by Antonio Bellucci.[4]
In other media
Meister is portrayed in various adaptations of Goethe's novels, notably as a tenor in the 1866 opera Mignon composed by Ambroise Thomas.[5] Rüdiger Vogler played a variation of Meister in Wim Wenders' 1975 film The Wrong Move, which is loosely based on Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship but takes place in post-war West Germany.[6]
References
- ↑ Amrine, Frederick (2024). "Wilhelm Meister". In Lee, Charlotte (ed.). Goethe in Context. Literature in Context. Cambridge University Press. pp. 113–120. doi:10.1017/9781009036436.016.
- ↑ Schlaffer, Hannelore (1989). Wilhelm Meister. Das Ende der Kunst und die Wiederkehr des Mythos (in German). Stuttgart: J. B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung. ISBN 978-3-476-00655-4.
- ↑ Halpert, Inge D. (1961). "Wilhelm Meister and Josef Knecht". The German Quarterly. 34 (1): 11–20. doi:10.2307/402111.
- ↑ Schweitzer, Christoph E. (1957). "Wilhelm Meister Und Das Bild Vom Kranken Königssohn". Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 72 (3): 419–432. doi:10.2307/460465.
- ↑ The Complete Opera Book. 2020. p. 493. ISBN 978-3-75233-315-2.
- ↑ Brady, Richard (18 April 2016). "Wrong Move". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Poetry | |
| Adaptations |
|
| Other |
|