Originally published in 1965, this study examines the concealed meanings in the second part of Faust, often considered obscure. It is of value not only to students of literature but also comparative religions, as it deals with Goethe’s knowledge of ancient myths, mysteries and Hellenistic religions. It is of value too, to those interested in alchemy as it traces the many alchemical references in Faust. The book gives a psychological interpretation of elements of Goethe’s personal life and work, which succeeds in making the man and the veiled references in his most profound work accessible to the modern reader.

This 1952 study analyses Goethe's writings in the light of his youthful readings in alchemy.

Originally published in 1965, this study examines the concealed meanings in the second part of Faust, often considered obscure. It is of value not only to students of literature but also comparative religions, as it deals with Goethe's knowledge of ancient myths, mysteries and Hellenistic religions. It is of value too, to those interested in alchemy as it traces the many alchemical references in Faust. The book gives a psychological interpretation of elements of Goethe's personal life and work, which succeeds in making the man and the veiled references in his most profound work accessible to the modern reader.

Originally published in 1987, this is a thorough and lucid introduction and commentary to the whole of Goethe’s Faust. It gives the student of German and European literature valuable insights into the most important work of Germany’s foremost poet. German quotations are translated or paraphrased in English and a detailed knowledge of German literature is not assumed. The book traces Goethe’s work on the play over 60 years of his creative career and surveys its critical reception over the 200 years since its first appearance. Part One is analysed as a mimetic tragedy, Part Two as an historical and cultural profile of Goethe’s own times. The commentary guides the reader carefully through its subtleties and multi-layered references and provides a broad and coherent structure for the overall understanding of the work. It suggests provocative interpretations of some figures and episodes in Part Two and places renewed emphasis on parts of the work that often receive relatively little attention. An appendix surveys the metres and verse forms of the play.

In the first half of the nineteenth century in England there was a strong interest in German literature and German scholarship. George Eliot studied German and German literature from the age of twenty. Her first publication, in 1846, was a translation of Friedrich Strauss's Das Leben Jesu; followed, in 1854, by the translation of Ludwig Feuerbach's Das Wesen des Christentums. That same year George Eliot left England with George Henry Lewes on her first visit to Germany. During the next three months they visited Frankfurt, Weimar and Berlin to collect material for Lewes's biography of Goethe. In this study, Gerlinde Röder-Bolton explores the impact of Goethe on George Eliot, whose elective affinity with Goethe was both ethical and artistic, and analyses George Eliot's responsiveness to Goethe's moral vision and the literary uses she makes of her familiarity with Goethe's work. George Eliot and Goethe: An Elective Affinity concentrates on The Mill on the Floss and Daniel Deronda, showing how the intertextual relationship with Die Wahlverwandtschaften holds the key to an understanding of the latter part of The Mill on the Floss, while the first part of Faust and Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre throw new light on Daniel Deronda. This study, with its close analysis of a range of works by George Eliot and Goethe, is essential reading for anyone interested in both or either of these authors or in Anglo-German literary relations.

The series presents outstanding monographic interpretations of Nietzsche's work as a whole or of specific themes and aspects. These works are written mostly from a philosophical, literary, communication science, sociological or historical perspective. The publications reflect the current state of research on Nietzsche's philosophy, on his sources, and on the influence of his writings. The volumes are peer-reviewed.