Embarrassment and Individual Identity in Goethe’s Wahlverwandtschaften

Summary

Abstract: Embarrassment is the central emotion in the narration of Goethe’s Elective Affinities. As a self-reflective emotion that relies heavily on social context, frequent emphasis on embarrassment in the novel's narration points to a framework for a socially constructed individual. Ottilie's martyrdom is the result of her rejection of the plastic self necessitated by social construction. Key scenes of this analysis include the depiction of Ottilie's failures in school, her arrival at Eduard and Charlotte's estate, and the three deaths in the novel's second half. Goethe's Elective Affinities, therefore, should be read as an ideological sequel to Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and a continuation of its exploration of the modern individual.

Keywords: Elective Affinities, embarrassment, modernity, social construction, individual

WILHELM MEISTERS LEHRJAHRE (Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship) is, with cause, widely held to be the epitome of the modern German novel. Its focus on the individual (Wilhelm) and fascination with progress has earned it this reputation. In contrast, Goethe's last novel, Die Wahlverwandtschaften (Elective Affinities), tends to be read as a novel of social and cultural change and not as thematizing the modern individual, in spite of its almost claustrophobic focus on its set of four main characters. In this article, I argue that Die Wahlverwandtschaften is no less a commentary on the modern individual than Meister. The main difference lies in the perspective through which the individual forms a sense of self. Meister has a clear main character—the bumbling yet fortunate Wilhelm, who dwells on his mistakes only long enough to push through them. Wilhelm undertakes many adventures and undergoes two major career changes. He grows from an easily distracted, aspiring artist into a father and entrepreneur, only recognizing this change in himself in retrospect. While the supporting cast and surrounding scenery change around Wilhelm, his individuality remains the one constant for the reader, and the reader partakes of Wilhelm's internal journey of self-discovery through his travels, interactions, and conversations with others, most notably with the mystical Turmgesellschaft (Tower Society), his wards (Mignon and Felix), and his love interests (Mariane, Theresa, and Natalie).