Skip to Main Content

Goethe & the Ginkgo: A Tree & a Poem

Online ISBN:
9780226841953
Print ISBN:
9780226841946
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Book

Goethe & the Ginkgo: A Tree & a Poem

Published online:
21 February 2013
Published in print:
1 May 2003
Online ISBN:
9780226841953
Print ISBN:
9780226841946
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press

Abstract

In 1815, Goethe gave symbolic expression to his intense relationship with Marianne Willemer, a recently married woman thirty-five years his junior. He gave her a leaf from the ginkgo tree, explaining that, like its deeply cleft yet still whole leaf, he was “single yet twofold.” Although it is not known if their relationship was ever consummated, they did exchange love poetry, and Goethe published several of Marianne's poems in his West-East Divan without crediting her authorship. This book considers what this episode means to our estimation of a writer many consider nearly godlike in stature. The author begins by exploring the botanical and medical lore of the ginkgo, including the use of its nut as an aphrodisiac and anti-aging serum. He then delves into Goethe's writings for the light they shed on his relationship with Marianne, and reveals Goethe as a great yet human being, subject, as any other man, to the vagaries of passion.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close