A Study On The Aesthetic Thought Of Goethe’s During The Period Of Sturm Und Drang Movement

Johann Wolfgang Goethe was the distinguished poet，writer and thinker, is oneof the four great western poets；as famous as Shakespeare，Dante,Homer.Goethe hasmade tremendous achievements in literary creation,and Goethe’s aesthetic thought isthe guiding ideology of Goethe’s literary creation.Although Goethe didn’t have thesystematical monographs and theoretical writings on aesthetic thought,but based onthe aesthetical characteristics and different styles ,his literary works can be dividedinto three periods:the period of Sturm Und Drang movement,the period of classicalliterature and the period of Goethe’s latter years.The period of Sturm Und Drang movement is the starting point of Goethe’sliterary creation,the works of this period was deeply influenced by the literary worksof Britain,France and other countries；especilly under the influence of Shakespeare,thegreat dramatist of the United Kingdom during the Renaissance,and Rousseau,the greatenlightment thinker of France during the enlightment movement period.Worship ofgenius,longing for nature and strong antifeudal ideology is the main content of theworks of this period.Goethe’s aesthetic thought of this period was formed under theinfluence of the philosophy of Spinoza,the philosophist of the Netherlands,the geniusworks of Shakespeare and the thought of Rousseau’s“return to nature.”Comparedwith the latter two periods,the aesthetic thought of this period has different literarybackground and theoretical source.This paper mainly analyzes the aesthetic thought of Goethe’s during Surm UndDrang movement.The paper is divided into three chapters.ChapterⅠdiscusses the origins of Goether’s aesthetic thought during the periodof Sturm Und Drang movement.SectionⅠdescribes the relationship between German traditional literature and the literary works of the Sturm Und Drang period,focusingon the impact by the enlightment writer such as Klopstock andLessing.SectionⅠdescribes the transformation of the German literature fromemphasis on reason to emotion.SectionⅡdiscusses Goethe’s aesthetic thought offoreign origin.Respectively,sectionⅡcarries out a detailed analysis of the effects onthe formation of the aesthetic thought of Goethe’s,by Shakespeare of the UnitedKingdom; the French enlightment thinkers, especially,Rousseau;ancient Greekliterature ,especially, Home;the philosophist Spinaza of the Netherland and thesentimental literature of the united Kingdom.The third section describes the maincontents of the aesthetic thought of Goethe’s during the period of Sturm Und Drangmovement,includes genius,nature,nationality and freedom,four sides of things.ChapterⅡprimarily discusses the aesthetic ideas of the texts during the periodof Sturm Und Drang movement.primarily through three important works ofGoethe’s:drama pieces The Prometheus,historical plays The Irony Hand CavalierGotz Von Berlichingen,the long epistolary novel The Sorrows Of YoungWerther.specifically analyzes the aesthetic ideas embodied in these works.Goethe’spoetry creation during the movement is a shining pearl among his literaryworks,concentratedly reflecting Goethe’s genius as a poet.Drama pieces ThePrometheus is a very important eulogistic poem during this period.It has shown thenoble ideal of the poet’s and the rebellion spirit of the movement,through thedescription of Prometheus,the Titan,ready to make self sacrifice for the benefits ofthe human being.The image of Gotz concentratedly embodies the Deutsche courage topursuit freedom and the national spirit and patriotism of German people.YoungWerther embodies aesthetical ideals of beauty in nature,emotion and genius,exposingthe decay and darkness of the feudal class with a distinct anti feudal spirit.ChapterⅢprimarily discusses the position of Goethe’s aesthetic thought duringthe movement in the overall aesthetics.SectionⅠdeals with the development ofGoethe’s aesthetic thought and the relationship between the movement period and thelatter periods which includes the classical period and latter years;SectionⅡdiscussesthe position of Goethe’s aesthetic thought in the overall aesthetics and the influence of Goethe’s aesthetic thought to the world literature.The aesthetic thought of Goethe’s during the Sturm Und Drang movement is avery enlightening to our today’s creative writing and lives with the distinctcharacteristics and high aesthetic charms!...