Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1992

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

German

Major Professor

David Lee

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre in order to find similes and metaphors and to determine if there were significant patterns governing their use. A distinction was made between the contributing domain of the metaphor, i.e., the area from which the metaphorical reference is drawn, and the receptive domain, i.e., the area of life that is explained. Two significant receptive domains, the theater and inner life, were discussed in detail in chapters one and two respectively. The third chapter consists of a regrouping of the metaphors according to the contributing domain and gives the reader a look at the metaphors from a different perspective. The chapter on theater is arranged according to attitude toward the theater with positive references covered first, the more negative references second, and a mixed group—the image of the play or actor as machine—third. It was found that the references to Shakespeare were generally positive, that the references Wilhelm makes to his childhood experiences were generally positive, but the majority of the remaining references to actual theater were negative. The negative references dealt with a wide range of topics including the audience, the actors, and acting as an art or profession. The metaphors in the chapter on inner life were grouped according to the speaker and within groups by gender and -frequency. The greatest number o-f images were used by Wilhelm and the Schone Seele in talking about themselves; the Harper, Theresa, and Aurelie used them as well , but to a lesser extent. Each metaphor or simile was paraphrased to clarify its meaning, and an effort was made to explain the range of comparisons in the more complex metaphors. It was found that the types of metaphors used by the various characters were indicative of their individual personalities, and these types were discussed according to the range of contributing domains, the extent of receptive domains, i.e., the different areas of life covered metaphorically, and the degree of specificity of the references, especially references to nature. Wilhelm chooses his metaphors from a wider range of contributing domains, including commerce and manufacturing. Most of the references of the Schone Seele are to nature or to aesthetic objects, whereas the Harper focuses on the contourless inner world of spirits. There is an absence of images depending on the animation of abstract human faculties such as "reason" that had been very popular earlier in the century. As shown in chapter three, the principal contributing domains were nature and manufacturing/commerce, and almost no references were drawn from religion and politics. Among the metaphors and similes drawn from nature, references to creatures were most frequent.

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