Elective Affinities was Goethe's third novel. It depicts human relationships in a Romantic crucible, and is the sourcebook and inspiration for many literary and filmic adaptations and variations.

By : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

00 - Introduction

01 - Part I Chapter 1

02 - Part I Chapter 2

03 - Part I Chapter 3

04 - Part I Chapter 4

05 - Part I Chapter 5

06 - Part I Chapter 6

07 - Part I Chapter 7

08 - Part I Chapter 8

09 - Part I Chapter 9

10 - Part I Chapter 10

11 - Part I Chapter 11

12 - Part I Chapter 12

13 - Part I Chapter 13

14 - Part I Chapter 14

15 - Part I Chapter 15

16 - Part I Chapter 16

17 - Part I Chapter 17

18 - Part I Chapter 18

19 - Part II Chapter 1

20 - Part II Chapter 2

21 - Part II Chapter 3

22 - Part II Chapter 4

23 - Part II Chapter 5

24 - Part II Chapter 6

25 - Part II Chapter 7

26 - Part II Chapter 8

27 - Part II Chapter 9

28 - Part II Chapter 10

29 - Part II Chapter 11

30 - Part II Chapter 12

31 - Part II Chapter 13

32 - Part II Chapter 14

33 - Part II Chapter 15

34 - Part II Chapter 16

35 - Part II Chapter 17

36 - Part II Chapter 18

The book is situated around the city of Weimar. Goethe's main characters are Eduard and Charlotte, an aristocratic couple both in their second marriage, enjoying an idyllic but semi-dull life on the grounds of their rural estate. They invite the Captain, Eduard's childhood friend, and Ottilie, the beautiful, orphaned, coming-of-age niece of Charlotte, to live with them. The decision to invite Ottilie and the Captain is described as an "experiment" and this is exactly what it is. The house and its surrounding gardens are described as "a chemical retort in which the human elements are brought together for the reader to observe the resulting reaction."

Elective Affinities