Wilhelm Meister is the main character in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novels Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and its sequel Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years.
Description and history
Wilhelm Meister's story concerns how he comes from a family of businessmen and desires to transcend
bourgeois life. In
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, published in 1795–1796, he tries to achieve this by joining a theatre troupe and a
secret society. In
Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, published in 1821 and revised substantially in 1829, he travels widely without a permanent residence.
Goethe chose the name Wilhelm as a nod to William Shakespeare, whose works feature prominently in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. The last name Meister, meaning Master, reflects the character's capability and active role.
In other media
Meister is portrayed in various adaptations of Goethe's novels, notably as a
tenor in the 1866 opera
Mignon composed by
Ambroise Thomas.
Rüdiger Vogler played a variation of Meister in
Wim Wenders' 1975 film
The Wrong Move, which is loosely based on
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship but takes place in post-war West Germany.
