Book Review – Christiane von Goethe: Her Vengeful Return

Reviewed by Kathy L. Brown

An intriguing story of undying love, great passion, and even greater injustice

Christiane von Goethe recounts nineteenth century Germanic history, focusing on its point-of-view character, a lower-class young woman who had a ringside seat for momentous events. 

Christiane Vulpius is the mistress and later the wife of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a renowned poet and novelist but also an important political figure. Not only inspiring him, Christiane also maintains Goethe’s domestic tranquility so he can work. But far from a partnership, the book’s premise is that the “great man” consistently used Christiane for his own benefit with little regard for her needs.

The book is told in two distinct sections, each with its own narrative style. It opens on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s political career during his twenty-three years with Christiane. This period is quite eventful, including the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and a restructuring of the Germanic states. 

The first section of the book is primarily told in summary, utilizing letters and historical documents from the era. It poses many questions about how Christiane might have felt about the events swirling about her but reads omnisciently, reminiscent of a nonfiction book. Unfortunately, Christiane’s thoughts are not recorded generally. Illiterate, scorned, and gossiped about by Goethe’s circle of nobles, royalty, and intellectuals, she is a hidden figure with little opportunity to speak for herself. 

The second portion of the book gives Christiane that voice. It is a magical, supernatural story of a Christiane resurrected to modern times. A mysterious guide summons her from the tomb, thusly, “A grave purpose is calling you back to life. You heard the crash of death’s gates shutting behind you, but since then a great injustice has forced them wide open… It is not too late to be who you might have been.” As he leads her through the various Goethe sites and shrines of Weimar and Rome, Christiane is challenged to process the facts of her (and her son’s) poor treatment by Goethe and history.

The book speculates that Goethe’s initial attraction to Christiane stemmed from her resemblance to a woman in a novel he was writing. Christiane, the real person, is a compelling hero, both tragic and ironically illustrating the cognitive dissonance between Goethe’s fiction and his real life. “The difference between the poetry of his letters to her when he is safely away, and the effects on her person of his real attitude toward her and women in general [are] summarized in the final verse of Faust II: ‘The eternal feminine draws us forward.’ In real life:  ‘It is unbelievable how the company of women tears one down.’”

Christiane von Goethe, the novel, sheds light on social issues of the early nineteenth century that, unfortunately, we’re still processing today. Themes regarding the treatment and role of women, social class struggles, and access to competent medical care are prominent. For example, Christiane suffers numerous miscarriages and early infant deaths. An Rh incompatibility is a likely explanation. Easily treatable today, the condition was completely unknown at the time. 

While Goethe is a famous writer, especially in Germany, this story may presuppose the reader has greater familiarity with him and European history than is common, thus making some aspects of the narrative harder to completely appreciate. 

The book takes a unique and creative approach to an intriguing untold story. The topic is a difficult one—bringing to life a compelling historical figure about whom little is known. The book truly gives Christiane a second chance to explain herself and, more importantly, to examine her choices and priorities, at least envisioning what might have been.  

Christiane von Goethe: Her Vengeful Return conveys high-stakes emotional conflict within a well-established historical context. Readers who enjoy European history, particularly the Napoleonic era, as well as classic literature, will find Christiane von Goethe: Her Vengeful Return an enlightening read.

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