The sun., 1890-01-26


Charlotte Won Stein ought TO have been his wife the
sole companion OF hs entire existence mat she ala
not bring tsrse TO thS that the strength ot her love
was not equal to what In her the duty OF true
morality commanded. was 10 she shared 0oethes love
In full measure either weakness OF character which
setform above substance worldly appearance above the
essence OF morality or It sin against her lover It
wahAslh her soul entirely belonged tn him, and not
ess sin H. ast seems to she wanted to be at onco
| the vrtuons spouse OF an unloved and insignificant
husband and the beloved the soufiend tho queen OF
the greatest genius Of his time IL was sin also against
his future, against his destiny against his happiness
against tho happiness which he Rrdonty desired and
which he knew like tow how to appreciate; against tho
happiness which the possession OF home and family
assures In marriage II Goohe's development hero
exhibits gap his fate here dark place yea in his
latter career heartbreaklnR tragedy portion of tho
| blame can never 10 removed from n woman, who was
too little for the fortune which freak OF destiny offered
| her in preference to 80 many thousands
This means-if 1t means anythinR-that Frau
Won Stein ought to have obtained n divorce
from her husband. and to have married Goethe.
as the first wilo OF Baron Imhoif was divorced
from him and married to Warren Hastings!
With notable inconsistency the same critic
few years later advanced tho opinion that Frau
| Won Stein had all the while maintained the re-
lation OF wife In reality to Goethe, and, as hos
| been said. controversy thereupon sprRng up.
| In which several notable writer's took part.
| Unless we mistake greatly tho reader who has
| paid attention 10 the facts which have been
presented and has porused the extracts given
from Goethe's letters. will have no difficulty
In coming to conclusion entirely ac-
quitting both him and his beloved OF the sin
IMPUTED to them. II direct testimony
were needed. that OF Schiller ought to be de-
cisive, and he writing from We!mar in 1877,
after Goethe's departure for Italy. says. speuk-
| ing OF Frau Won Stein: This lady possesses
over thousand letters from Goethe. and he
has written 10 hor from tsly every week. They
say that their Intercourse f,0ngdnqJ is entirely
pure and blamcless." Ii this was tho verdict
on the spot and at tho timo, OF u little Gossipy
town like Weimar, where everybody know
| everything about everybody else, it is foolish
to seek to reverse 1t at this late day. Certainly
the letters OF Goethe express the feelings. not
OF a triumphant seuucer but OF humble and
unsuccessful sunplant. and show that the
object Of his passion, 80 far from yielding to it.
checked aud resisted 1t to the utmost.
In confirmation of this view it may be
further remarked that up to the commence
ment OF his acquaintance with Frau Won Stein
all Goethe's love affairs, 80 far as anything
is known OF them. had been purely romantic.
Women loved him devotedly. but he never took
advantage Of their love to do them a wrong.
Nearly all OF them married, as Lii did, respec-
table husbands, which could not have been tho
case If they had fallen from virtue. To sup
pose that lady in Frau Won Steins position
should have been Goethe's first victim Is to
violate all probability. Tho fact that. as we
shall presently see. Christiane Vulpius became
his mistress. proves nothing, since he always
treated her as his wife, and finally married her
in due legal form.
The truth. probably, is that the love OF Frau
Won Stein for Goethe. deep and sincere as it
was, was not that which a woman should feel
for man with whom she is to hold the rela-
tion Of wife. His youth and beauty aroused
her maternal instincts, his devotion 1attered
her vanity. and, proud of his genius and his
reputation, she was willing to have her name
linked with his In public fame. Goethe. on his
part, saw her through the medium Of love-"
His fervid imagination, like that Of all low
ers, invested her with charms OF his own
creation, and the dsenchantment which
finally came, would have come earlier
If she had yielded to him. De Musset is
right when he says LA femme qui aime un
peu. ct qui r3stste. maine pas assez." but he
is not right when he adds ct celle 1ui aime
assez, ct Qui resiste. salt Qu'elle est moins
aimee" 1t Is but a step from satisfaction to
safety. and safety Is the grave of love.
Whether she loved little or much. Frau Won
Stein. II she had not resisted Goethe. would
not only have been loved less by him but very
soon would not have been loved at all. That
she did that whicn Stahr blames her for doing
was the reason why she kept her lovers affec-
tion as long as she did, and II she had not done
1t. his character would never have been refined
and improved as it was.
1t is. nevertheless possible. but. as the hy-
pothesis has never before been advanced by
any one who has written upon the subject
IL hp,tt tad hara Will ~
Frau Won Stein, wearied with Goethes impor-
tunities. or perhaps yielding to a passion
which his ardent devotion had kndledE in
her heart. had. during Goethes visit |
to her in Carlsbad in August 17S6. con-
sented to fly with him TO Italy, and |
there spend the rest OF her days with him as
his wife. At the last moment. however. she |
must have repented of her promise. and re-
fused to keep it. Goethe. on his part. hurt by
her vaclllation, would not and did not change |
his plans. and, since she would not accom-
pany him, went without her. 1t was an |
act OF revolt against her on his |
part. which she felt keenly as the be-
ginning OF his emancipation from her influ-
ence and in fact, it was 50. Hence her grief
at his going. and hence in the absence of
proof to the contrary. the accepted opinion that
his projected journey was as much q secret to
her as it was to the rest of the world. But letters
from him to her recently discovered and pub
lished show that she knew OF his plans and was
notified by him OF his intended departure. 1t
could therefore, have been no surprise TO her,
and the pain 1t caused her must have arisen
not from his want OF confidence. but from the
fact that he left her at ALL
The proof that Goethe expected Frau Won
Stein to accompany him to Italy is found In his
letter to her dated at Carlsbad. Aug. "a. 1776.
which. In the collection as Just published. is
the last written before he won't away. In this
letter the following passage OCCURS:
In any event must stay another week but then also.
Ill will gently end and the fruit fail ripe
th0n will live with thoe In tho free world and in
happy solitude without ntme and rank, como nearer
10 the earth out OF which we were taken.
The apparent meaning OF this language is
that Frau Won Stein was to go with Goethe.