Goethe's Elective Affinities : An Interpretation

This study is addressed to two audiences: the community of Goethe scholars and the wider audience of English-speaking readers interested in improving their acquaintance with Germany's greatest author.

It presents a new understanding of the story and a corresponding reinterpretation of the novel as an allegory depicting the forces at work in western civilization at the opening of the nineteenth century and foretelling the outcome of their interaction.