Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre

4
- this is what Wilhelm Meister thinks when he sees Mignon for the very first time
- is not mentioned too often, but nevertheless she is omnipresent
� Goethe said once that he only wrote Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre because of Mignon
- because of her mysterious figure, Wilhelm first cannot decide if Mignon is a boy or a girl
- but this is also what attracts him: her androgynous appearance
- she is physically underdeveloped because of the circumstances of her childhood
- when she is asked for her name she says: ,,Sie heißen mich Mignon”(Seite 98, Zeile 32).
- never says ‘I am’ (Ich bin)
- not only her appearance is mysterious but also her name: in this time male lovers of
princes in France were called Mignon
� this name also shows her sexual neutrality
- when the story-teller talks about Mignon he often uses the words
,,Wesen, Gestalt and Kreatur”
- Mignon has great problems with the German language and so she often prefers to sing and
not to talk
- after Wilhelm has bought Mignon off the tightrope acrobates she devotes herself to serve
Wilhelm
- Mignon wants to be dressed like Wilhelm, she identifies with him and this goes along
with the development of her passion for him
Mignon’s and Wilhelm’s relationship
- there are three events which have a forming effect on Mignon’s life while she is with
Wilhelm
- the first event takes place when Mignon waits for Wilhelm to come home one night and
presents the so-called “Eiertanz”
- with the help of music and dance Mignon expresses her feelings which she cannot do with
words, therefore the moment of the Eiertanz is one of extreme vulnerability
- she submits to Wilhelm and looks at him as her master
- as a countermove to this, he strokes her and she feels sheltered by him
- what she does not know is that she is also the object of his desire for love
- Wilhelm gives Mignon warmth and security, which she longs for so much
� for her Wilhelm embodies father, protector and lover (but at the end of the novel the
reader gets to know that Wilhelm fails concerning all three roles)