This paper analyses Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship", to reveal various levels of irony.
Written in 2008; 1,937 words; 1 sources; APA; $ 61.95
Paper Summary:
In this article, the writer examines the use of irony in the novel 'Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship' by J.W.V. Goethe. Three levels of irony are uncovered. The writer discusses that at the simplest level there is the pedagogic irony, which is necessary for the composition of the bildungsroman. The writer then notes that there is the irony of 'strangeness', which is characteristic of Goethe, who believed that the practice of art should always be infused by the aesthetic sensibility. The writer goes on to explain that the most pronounced irony comes from the fact that we are not explicitly told about the secret designs of the Society of the Temple, who are monitoring and manipulating the events in the life of Wilhelm, so that he acquires maturity in exact accordance with their particular humanist philosophy. The writer discusses that stress is laid on how Wilhelm's experiences are made to coincide with those of Hamlet.
From the Paper:
"Such irony is termed pedagogic. It is as if the author has placed himself in the position of pedagogue, who customarily puts his pupils in confusion, bewilderment, or shame. It works on the philosophy that one only learns through error, and that there is no linear and straightforward approach to education. The pedagogue allows his pupils to err only because he is there to correct them. Goethe's use of irony in the novel has, however, more dimensions of significance. At one level he believes in committing error, but at another he does not. So, in the end of the novel we discover that Wilhelm Meister does not encounter life in a spontaneous way, but instead is secretly guided by an arcane order, who are directed by the precepts of Freemasonry. It reflects a contradiction in the outlook of Goethe, which in turn emerges from the contradiction inherent in the German Enlightenment, of which Goethe was a leading figure."
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