About the work
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's pastoral play in one act and verse is his oldest surviving dramatic work, composed in 1767 at the age of eighteen during his Leipzig student years. The work already displays the sharp psychological observational skill of the later master in the light form of the Rococo pastoral play.
Plot
Eridon, a jealous lover, torments his beloved Amine with constant suspicions and moods. Her friend couple Egle and Lamon decide to teach Eridon a lesson: Egle seduces Eridon into a kiss to show him how little he himself would withstand jealousy. Through this reversal Eridon recognises his injustice toward Amine. He promises improvement, and the couples unite in a concluding harmony.
Cultural significance
Die Laune des Verliebten is a literary-historical rarity — a completely preserved youthful work of a later classic, composed long before the flourishing of the Sturm und Drang. The play is rarely performed today but appears regularly as studio production at German drama schools and is occasionally shown at Goethe festivals as document of the eighteen-year-old Goethe. The light, ironic tone anticipates the later Goethe comedies like Die Mitschuldigen.