SOURCE: Lange, Horst. “Wolves, Sheep, and the Shepherd: Legality, Legitimacy, and Hobbesian Political Theory in Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen.” Goethe Yearbook 10 (2001): 1-30.

In the following essay, Lange provides a historical reading of Götz von Berlichingen and asserts that “the play is to a large extent a reflection upon the difficulties Enlightenment social contract theory faced in accounting for the legitimacy of the modern state.”

Goetz de Berlichingen … est heureusement choisi pour représenter quelle étoit l'indépendance des nobles avant que l'autorité de gouvernement pesât sur tous. Dans le moyen âge, chaque château étoit une forteresse, chaque seigneur un souverain. …

Mme. de Staël, De l' Allemagne

I

Traditional interpretations hold that Goethe became enamored of Götz von Berlichingen's autobiography because he discovered in the historical figure of Götz the perfect embodiment of the ideal Sturm und Drang character, the Kraftkerl. Frequently...