Abstract

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stated that his novel Die Wahlverwandtschaften was the only work he had created with respect to a single or "comprehensive" idea. Literary critics have yet to uncover what this single "comprehensive idea" might be. The difficulty in doing so arises from the linear conditions of understanding which have prevailed since the time of Newton. Since the 1960s, however, through work in the field of hermeneutics by Hans-Georg Gadamer and through the emerging scientific theories of "chaos" , models have become available that may be used to treat subjects as "comprehensive" wholes. Seen through the lens of Gadamer's hermeneutic and the emerging science of "chaos" theory, as well as through the lens of Goethe's own theories concerning the structure of nature and art, Die Wahlverwandtschaften reveals a highly ordered mirroring structure. Taking seriously Goethe's ideas of how a novel can "reflect" reality leads to the conclusion that Die Wahlverwandtschaften has been structured to reveal the nature of our desire to find order in chaos.