歌德之人生启示

Goethe’s Revelation about Life

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What is life? What is the truth of life? Where does the meaning of life lies? What is the purpose of life? These most crucial and fundamental questions of life above haunted not merely the scholars of religion and the philosophers of all time for an answer. Absorbed in deep thoughts, diving into the innermost of souls, emerged in the universe of superego, the world first-class poets get a glimpse of the heaven through a flower in full blossom and meditate the meaning of life through a dewdrop. After all, they are inspiring the truth and meaning of life by depicting myriads of life images in an illusionary world through their magical quills. As for the methods and attitudes towards these questions, the scholars of religion are prophetic and didactic; the philosophers explanatory; the poets and great writers expressive and inspiring. Homer’s epics unveil the dreamy beauty of life and ideal of the Greek artistic civilization; Dante’s Divina Comedia reveals the spiritual life and belief of the mid-ancient Christian cultures; Shakespeare’s dramas reflect the conflicts of people’s life and the “will to power” during the Renaissance. In terms of the modern period or the so called modern life, which is constructed upon the three civilizations above and at the some time creates a brand new age, it is Goethe, the great writer who displays its special meaning and inherent problems through his personality, his life and his works.

Goethe’s revelations about life are multi-faceted. Taking the human being as a whole, Goethe’s personality and life have attained the ultimate of the possibilities of human beings. He is at the same time a poet, a scientist, a politician, a thinker. He is also a great representative of the modern belief of pantheism. On one hand, he is the embodiment of the spirit of making unremitting efforts to improve oneself of the western civilization; on the other hand, he boasts the oriental wisdom of resting satisfied of one’s life and lasting by leading a quiet life. Simmel, a German philosopher, once said: “The reason why Goethe’s life has bequeathed us with infinite thrill and deep consolation is that he is just a person, he has just reached the very limit of humanity, yet he is so great. He let us have hopes towards human and encouraged us to be a human fighting forward.” We can say that Goethe is a bright window in the world through which we can gain a peep of the enduring, unfathomable, gorgeous and immense firmament of human life.

In a smaller scale, as for the European culture, Goethe indeed represents the spiritual life and inherent problems of the modern people after the Renaissance. Modern people have lost their Christian faith of an omnipotent God. Although spiritually liberated, people at the same time had lost their spiritual prop, felt at lost and gloomy, while seeking the meaning and value of life through their efforts. Goethe is a great representative of this zeitgeist, and Faust, his main masterpiece, is the whole reflection of that kind of life and the attempt to find the settlement of its questions. For Goethe and his substitute Dr. Faust, the content of the whole life is to experience the special spiritual meaning of this modern life as much as possible, understand its tragic nature, and strive to solve its problems and direct people the way out. That’s why some people acclaim his Faust as the Bible of modern people.

Different from Dante and Shakespeare, Goethe reveals to us the truth of life not merely through his works; he also shows the essence of life which is both extensive and minute especially through his personality and life.