Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Context:

Referenced alongside Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus as part of the Faustian literary tradition that informs Kurtz's character — the idea of selling one's soul to the devil. The hosts note that Goethe wrote about Faust, and Thomas Mann would later write about Faust as well, placing Conrad in a long literary lineage.

Context:

Described as Goethe's 'most famous work,' discussed in the context of how the arrival of the Jena set reinvigorated Goethe to continue writing it after he had been stuck.

Context:

Mentioned as the novel that catapulted Goethe to international fame in the 1770s, described as 'a novel about a lovelorn man who commits suicide' that sparked a cultural phenomenon.