Precisely because Margaret was
nothing but a little provincial, Goethe could sublimate her into a new
being, for the greater the tension between reality and the vision of the
soul, the greater is the task and the more gigantic the creative power
which such a task may develop. It has been said that, in this scene,
Goethe revealed leanings towards Catholicism. I do not pretend to deny
it offhand, but I must insist on these leanings being understood in the
sense of my premises. Goethe took from tradition those elements which
were able to materialise his spiritual life and gave them a new
interpretation. We are justified in believing that he accepted nothing
but what was conformable to his nature; the Madonna represented his
profoundest feeling and, like Dante (I attribute the greatest importance
to this), he created a new deity, moulded in the shape of his first
love, and placed it by the side of the universal Queen of Heaven, the
Madonna of the Catholic Church, transformed by love.
Pages:
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338