Erwin und Elmire

" The ballad of Angelica and Edwin was first published privately in 1764, and two years later was incorporated into Chapter 8 of The Vicar of Wakefield. Its success was immediate and widespread. Goethe was not the only literary figure who was to adapt the tale; it appears, for instance, in de Laborde's Lettres sur la Suisse (1783). Victor Pelissier's opera Edwin and Angelina, or The Banditti which premiered in New York in 1796, was based upon an adaptation by Elihu Hubbard Smith.

Goethe made his adaptation of Erwin und Elmire, as the ballad became known in Germany, in 1773, attracted, no doubt, to the parallels between the tale and his faltering relationship with Lili Schönemann, to whom the text is dedicated. It was published in 1775 as a Schauspiel mit Gesang, the first time this designation appeared in Germany.

The great success of Goethe's reworking of this sentimental tale no doubt derives in large measure from the fact that it touched upon many social and cultural preoccupations of the day. Its theme of reconciliation, achieved in rustic surroundings, was a pointed critique on the social pretensions of emerging middle-class society. The literary-poetic figures of the 'hermit' and the 'hut' were in fact to become recurring themes in Goethe's writings, also helping to frame his lifelong exploration of the difficulty of reconciling steadfast virtues with restless desires."