ABSTRACT

The Duke of Saxony-Weimar, 18-year-old Carl August, sought an encounter with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at the instigation of his mother, Anna Amalia. During a trip to visit his future bride, he stopped in Frankfurt, where he held long conversations with Goethe about public policy. For Goethe, the invitation from Carl August was a welcome opportunity to withdraw from the awkward situation in Frankfurt. Goethe had escaped from the embarrassing emotional and social situation in Frankfurt, but he quickly filled the void left by Cornelia, Friederike, Charlotte, and Lili with Charlotte von Stein, a lady-in-waiting at the court in Weimar. Goethe himself commented on "the pervading vileness of this temporal splendour". Goethe's first few years in Weimar were a period of maturity for him. Taking on duties and responsibilities freed him from the turmoil of adolescence. The biographical outlines are even clearer in Goethe's play Torquato Tasso.