Three Great Artists Reflecting on the Spiritual Purpose of Art. A Study of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, Keller’s Der Grune Heinrich, and Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus

“Potter shows that the inwardness of these three novels’ sustained discussion of the purposes of art is not a privileged enclave insulated from the quotidian cares of society; rather, it generates a profound and acute diagnosis of the values, the mindset, the mentality of a culture at a specific juncture of change and development. Time and again Potter suggests that, in the realm of art as these three novels understand it, old values and new energies collide, and in that collision define each other. The upshot is a reading of three major novels which argues that, in ways that have too long gone imperfectly comprehended; these novels explore, contest, and also (most importantly) count the cost of emergent modernity.” – Prof. Martin Swales, University College London

Foreword by Martin Swales
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre
Introduction
Society
The Educational Project
The Role of Women
The Quest for Balance
Social Aims
Art
Conclusion
2. Keller’s Der Grüne Heinrich
Introduction
Politics
Religion
Class
Education
Economics
Urban and Rural Life
Art
Psychology
3. Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus
Introduction
Representative Characters
Music
The Devil
Music Again
Theology
Society
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index