In _Wilhelm Meister_ (Part I, Chapter XV), Goethe, on the basis
of his own personal experiences, describes his hero's emotions in
the humble surroundings of Marianne's little room as compared
with the stateliness and order of his own home. "It seemed to him
when he had here to remove her stays in order to reach the
harpsichord, there to lay her skirt on the bed before he could
seat himself, when she herself with unembarrassed frankness would
make no attempt to conceal from him many natural acts which
people are accustomed to hide from others out of decency--it
seemed to him, I say, that he became bound to her by invisible
bands." We are told of Wordsworth (Findlay's _Recollections of De
Quincey_, p. 36) that he read _Wilhelm Meister_ till "he came to
the scene where the hero, in his mistress's bedroom, becomes
sentimental over her dirty towels, etc., which struck him with
such disgust that he flung the book out of his hand, would never
look at it again, and declared that surely no English lady would
ever read such a work." I have, however, heard a woman of high
intellectual distinction refer to the peculiar truth and beauty
of this very passage.
Pages:
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116