Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont

Ellis Dye (Macalester College)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1789

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

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Goethe's tragedy

Egmont

, about the life and downfall of a glamorous and popular Flemish political leader and brilliant general in the service of Philip II of Spain, was composed in sporadic work over a period of twelve years, a first draft having been set down in 1775, when Goethe was still living at his parents' Frankfurt home and encouraged “day and night” by his republican-minded father. Like

Götz von Berlichingen

and various fragmentary treatments of

Julius Caesar, Mahomet,

and the mythical

Prometheus

Egmont: A Tragedy in Five Acts

reflects Goethe's preoccupation with the lives of great, powerful men (“Kraftkerle”). The original

Faust

was a product of the same short period of prodigious creative energy and fascination with exceptional human greatness, while

The Sufferings of

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2428 words

Citation: Dye, Ellis. "Egmont". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 September 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16859, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont

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