Literature of the world : an introductory study . ngs but the firstto establish his fame. It isa loose historical drama ofthe sixteenth century, muchstronger in its characterstudy and in the unre-strained vigor of its lan-guage than in its plotstructure. Shakespeare in-fluenced him in this trag-edy, while the prose talewhich appeared the fol-lowing year, The Sorrowsof Werther, reminds us ofthe French sentimentalist Rousseau. All Germany wept over the sad fortunes of youngWerther and took a deep interest in his sensitive and lovablenature, his hopeless love for Lotte, and his tragic death. The
Literature of the world : an introductory study . ngs but the firstto establish his fame. It isa loose historical drama ofthe sixteenth century, muchstronger in its characterstudy and in the unre-strained vigor of its lan-guage than in its plotstructure. Shakespeare in-fluenced him in this trag-edy, while the prose talewhich appeared the fol-lowing year, The Sorrowsof Werther, reminds us ofthe French sentimentalist Rousseau. All Germany wept over the sad fortunes of youngWerther and took a deep interest in his sensitive and lovablenature, his hopeless love for Lotte, and his tragic death. The workhad an enormous popularity in its day throughout all Europe, andit is still read for the beauty of its style and sentiments, though itrepresents a phase of literature long past. The plays Clavigoand Stella, belonging to the same period, are less important. In 1775, when Goethe had reached his twenty-sixth year, oc-curred a momentous change in his life. Accepting the invitation ofDuke Karl August, he visited him at his court in Weimar. During. JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 2 76 LITERATURE OF THE WORLD the preceding year he had been engaged to Anna Elizabeth Schone-mann (the LiH of his lyrics), but, largely at the instance of herfamily, this engagement was broken off. Goethe went gladly toWeimar; he could hardly have foreseen, however, that here he wasto make his home until the close of his life. Weimar at the time ofGoethes arrival was an inconspicuous town of six thousand inhabi-tants, with few natural advantages. However, in Anna Amalia, themother of the duke, and in Karl August, who became ruler of theduchy in 1775, Weimar possessed two very remarkable personali-ties. Karl Augusts native endowments and his poetic temperamentand graces gave him in time a place of leadership among the Ger-man princes of his day second only to that of Frederick II became the center of intellectual Germany, for it was asso-ciated with the leaders of the Classical period, with Wieland
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