Fission figures: Split characters in Goethe's novel 'Elective Affinities'

In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel, Die Wahlverwandtschaften , the conflict within the work arises from the marriage between Charlotte and Eduard, which is threatened by the arrival of Ottilie and the Hauptmann. Soon this results in the formation of new couples: Eduard and Ottilie—a childlike, almost childish couple—and Charlotte and the Hauptmann—a grown-up, mature couple.;In this thesis, I will argue that this "Eheroman", in the true sense of the word, is the story of one marriage: Charlotte and Ottilie are fractions of a female identity; Eduard and the Hauptmann embody aspects of one man. Therefore, instead of the story of four people, it is in reality a portrayal one marriage.;Furthermore, I use the novella Die wunderlichen Nachbarskinder within Die Wahlverwandtschaften as a key to the novel. When comparing the novella and the novel, we can see several similar thematic, as well as structural elements. Hence, by inserting the novella, the narrator hands us a tool to interpret and to understand the character constellation within the novel.;In this context, I will apply Noël Carroll's concept of fission figures from his work The Philosophy of Horror (1990). In a fission figure, opposing elements or different aspects of an individual are split into different characters. Each facet of this identity stands for a different aspect of the individual, which is hidden, ignored, suppressed or denied. I argue that this is precisely the situation in Goethe's novel, in that Charlotte and Ottilie, on the one hand, are different intensifications of the same conflict, and Eduard and the Hauptmann, on the other hand, embody contradicting elements of one individual. Each of these couples is presented in the female or male character of the novella.;Therefore, in the center of the novel I see the conflicting expectations of two people within one marriage, as opposed to the relationship between the apparent four characters likened by a chemical reaction. The couple’s attempts to resolve their differences, through their alter egos, remain unfulfilled at the end of the novel.