Elective Affinities (Oxford World's Classics)

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Summary: Love is Not a Controlled Experiment
Review: First published in 1809, Goethe's novel "Elective Affinities" is a disturbingly dark work about rational people driven to distraction by passion and love. The novel seems to be as much influenced by 'The Tale of Foolish Curiosity' found in "Don Quixote" (chapters 33-35) as by Goethe's own marital difficulties. In the novel, Goethe explores the nature of love, and questions whether we have any choice over who we love - or over anything at all.

"Elective Affinities" is the story of two married aristocrats, Eduard and Charlotte, who spend their time and money in general indolence, tinkering with the land on their estate. A friend of Eduard's, the Captain, has fallen into economic instability, and Eduard suggests that they invite the Captain into their home until he can reestablish himself. Charlotte initially objects, but sees it as an opportunity to withdraw Ottilie, her niece, from an unproductive school experience. Under the auspices of doing good turns for their friends, Eduard and Charlotte unwittingly throw the listless harmony of their lives into chaos.

When the passionate Eduard meets the youthful, energetic Ottilie, and the stoical Charlotte meets the likewise prudent Captain - the scientific principle of Elective Affinities that gives the novel its name begins to take effect. The results of introducing two new elements into a closed system makes up the action of the remainder of the novel. Among other things, the novel examines and subtly criticizes the state of class relations in Germany in the early nineteenth century, the limitations of children's education, and matters of faith.

Goethe's "Elective Affinities" is a quick read - Hollingdale's translation is user-friendly, becoming ornate only when faith to the original seems to demand it. Though not as famous as Goethe's "Sorrows of Young Werther," "Elective Affinities" is certainly worth a read.

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Summary: Who will you love?
Review: This is a curious and interesting mix between novel and essay, written when Goethe was sixty (he lived much longer). Edward and Charlotte, aristocrat widowers, get married. They live in a beautiful castle surrounded by huge properties. Life there is easy and fun, since their main occupation is to remodel their estate and throw parties and entertainments. Then the Captain, a friend of Edward's who is down on his luck but also a smart guy, is invited by Edward to come and live with them while he is back on track. Charlotte thinks it is a good opportunity to have come with them her niece, Otilia, a pretty, shy and nice girl. Both guests turn out to be useful and likable, and the four of them get along well. That is, until the elective affinities are set to work. Charlotte and the Captain, as well as Otilia and Edward, have affinities of personality, tastes and approach to life, and that draws them together: they fall in love. As the situation becomes untenable, the Captain finds a job and leaves. Edward retires to antoher house he owns. Then Charlotte gives birth to a child she conceived with Edward and, when he knows it, leaves for war. It turns out that the child resembles the Captain and Otilia, because Edward was thinking of Otilia and Charlotte was thinking of the Captain at the moment of conception (ha!). After some time, the Captain and Edward talk, and decide to speak to Charlotte, proposing divorce. I won't spoil the ending.

With this novel, Goethe tries to demonstrate that love is not a matter of conscious decision-making; that we can not control at all who we fall in love with, and that it is absurd to try to fight against it (note: it is not a defense of promiscuity, but an argumentation about an undeniable truth). This, then, is a novel with a strong point to make, and successfully so. Goethe is a good writer, a great one indeed, and this novel is important, especially when you put it in the context of the Romantic movement of the time. The story is interesting, the more so because it is carefully designed to prove Goethe's point of view.

Rating:
Summary: The Elective Affinities
Review: This is a fine novel, and Goethe is perhaps the giant in German literature. The title refers to the central metaphor of the novel, the way in which chemical compounds separate and unite themselves with each other in seemingly arbitrary but entirely predictable ways, just as the characters in this novel are. The novel subtley broaches questions about free will, and human nature. Well worth the read.