Iphigenia in Tauris: A Play in Five Acts [Paperback]

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Author), Charles E. Passage (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1991

A play that has, generation after generation, won fervent admirers among thoughtful readers! Five good people enact this drama. There are no villains. Gaudy passions and horrendous crimes are acknowledged as parts of life, but relegated to areas beyond our view. The five good people are engaged in a poignant discussion of what constitutes right conduct in the midst of a situation made difficult as a result of such passions and crimes. They consult both the rational mind and the intuitive heart, and they arrive at a decision that is mixed of sadness and joy, yet that which is right and inevitable. A great deal happens in this play, and what happens is both profoundly significant for all of us and deeply moving as well. Iphigenia in Tauris, which Thomas Mass termed supreme among the works of German literature, is a subtle psychological document by a poet whose language and nationality were German but whose mentality was at the very least European. Even that term suggests a false limitation, for in actuality, Goethe's mind was concerned with the universally human. This dramatic poem is likewise universally human. Its "Greekness" is a mere veil wherewith to signify that it is of no one era and of no one nation, but rather true in any time and in any place.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Goethe, Gotz von Berlichingen: A Play (ISBN 9780881335415); Hauptmann, Three Plays [The Weavers, Hannele, and The Beaver Coat] (ISBN 9780881335408); Novalis, Henry von Ofterdingen: A Novel (ISBN 9780881335743); and Plenzdorf, The New Sufferings of Young W. (ISBN 9780881338911).

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc (January 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881335797
• ISBN-13: 978-0881335798
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest dramas I know, January 27, 2005

By 

H. Prior (Ludwigshafen/Rh., Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iphigenia in Tauris: A Play in Five Acts (Paperback)

I can fall into line with the writer of the "product description" who did most wonderful. One exeption: instead of refering to a European spirit, Goethe's works at this time are to be related to the 'Klassik' period, strongly based on the resumption of the ancient Greek, Roman and renaissance ideas of humanity.
I follow as well the given further recommendations of other plays, stressing esp. - e.g. - Gerhard Hauptmann, and adding, e.g., Friedrich Schiller, "Intrigue and Love", and Bertold Brecht, "The Good Person of Szechwan"!
(Pls. don't imply to my comment I'd be focused too much on German drama and literature: I strongly appreciate as well e.g. plays of Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee, just to name some American writers.)