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Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship

Realist and Literary Fiction

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795-96) is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel following its young title character through a series of formative experiences, chiefly his passage from a theatrical troupe into the company of an aristocratic secret society, as he matures from an idealistic, directionless youth into a socially integrated adult. Its structure, tracing a protagonist's moral, psychological and social education toward a settled adult identity, became the model against which the critic Karl Morgenstern defined the Bildungsroman in 1819, and Goethe's novel is still generally cited as the genre's founding and defining case.

Facts
Classification
Audience
General 1
Original Language
German 2
Composed, From (Year)
1795 to 1796 2
FAQs

Is there a sequel to Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship?

Yes, Wilhelm Meister's Travels, Goethe's final novel, from 1821 and 1829.

Yes. Goethe's final novel, Wilhelm Meister's Travels (in German, Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre), appeared in 1821 and was published in its final form in 1829. It can be considered a sequel in which Wilhelm moves into the next phase of his life.
Connections

Authored By

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

In Genre

Bildungsroman, Genres

The genre's defining case.

Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature
In the Other Atlases

Original Language

Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source Encyclopaedia Britannicatier 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
Wikipedia
  • Lead
    is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
  • Lead paragraph
    Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (German: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is a Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, published in 1795-96. It consists of eight books, the first five of which are based on the fragment Wilhelm Meister's Theatrical Mission, which remained unpublished during Goethe's lifetime.
View the Source
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source
The Norton Anthology of World Literature
W. W. Norton & Company

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