This Master's thesis analyses the connection between the Illuminati ideology and the sociopolitical ideals contained in pre-classical works---contemporary to the existence of the order---of Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. The first chapter examines the creation, the development and the eventual collapse of the Illuminati Secret Society (Geheimbund der Illuminaten) founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt in the context of the Enlightenment. The second chapter explores the ideological similarities between the young Goethe and this secret society through the analysis of his works Gotz von Berlichingen (1771--1773), Egmont (1775--1784) and Der Gross Cophta (1791). The third chapter expounds Schiller's ideological opinion of the Illuminati through Don Carlos (1787), and discusses their republican visions of freedom and human rights. The conclusion integrates the findings made in each chapter and demonstrates, through both authors' discussed works, the similar ideals of both authors and Illuminism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.21277 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Wellige, Rainer. |
| Contributors | Hsia, Adrian (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | ge |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of German Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001658891, proquestno: MQ50585, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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