Iphigenie auf Tauris, Torquato Tasso, and the imagery of character
Abstract
Whether it is in the notion of ‘Bildung’ or the daemonic, the reflective engagement with the self lies at the heart of what makes Goethe compelling for modern readers. This article traces the language and imagery of one notion of self-realization, moral character, in Iphigenie auf Tauris and Torquato Tasso. It identifies recurrent metaphors associated with character in eighteenth and nineteenth century theoretical and popular texts, such as stability, independence, influence, and limitation or focus. It demonstrates how this imagery of character informs the inner logic of the plays, structures the relationships between the individual characters, and how, through it, the dramas can be seen as offering literary reflections on character as a concept. Character emerges as a modern ideal, difficult to achieve yet realistic, worthy of admiration, yet universal.
Citation
White , M J 2023 , ' Iphigenie auf Tauris , Torquato Tasso , and the imagery of character ' , Publications of the English Goethe Society , vol. 92 , no. 2 , pp. 95-111 . https://doi.org/10.1080/09593683.2023.2212442
Publication
Publications of the English Goethe Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0959-3683Type
Journal article
Collections
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