by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, R.J. Hollingdale
Introduction--Elective AffinitiesChronologyFurther Reading
I found a few very helpful notes in the Penguin Classics introduction by R. J. Hollingdale, although the introduction in this edition (by David Constantine) is much more thorough from a lit crit angle.
Herr Goethe definitely had a passion for drama and tragedy. Except this time she dies but, don't cry yet, he joins her in death (gothic, right?) and "Thus the lovers lie sleeping side by side ; peace hovers above their resting-place ; fair angel faces gaze down upon them from aloft. And what happine...
Analysis of the meaning and difficulties of marriage, especially the effect of other people. The first third is more thoughtful and analytical; the remainder slightly more plot-driven. The mannered, detached and somewhat unnatural style (though apparently typical of a common German novel form of the...
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