Is a catterpillar a butterfly? Is an acorn an oak tree? When do tadpoles become frogs or are they frogs already? Do these changing forms change the identity of the creature that is undergoing metamorphosis?
Questions like this are now within the domain of developmental biology. A major figure in the early history of this discipline was the great poet and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who published an influential study on the metamorphosis of plants in 1790.
It is not surprising, then, that much of his drama and poetry explored the questions of identity and continuity as they affect changing human beings. The figure of Mignon in his novel Wilhelm Meister could even be seen to offer a sympathetic portrayal of a transgender or non-binary individual, not as a case study in difference or diversity but as a way of exploring what it means for all or any of us to change and grow.
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Descendant of:
Plants and vegetation TIMETexts with this theme:
- Die Sterne (Was funkelt ihr so mild mich an), D 176 (Johann Georg Fellinger)
- Edone, D 445 (Friedrich Gottlob Klopstock)
- Mignon (So lasst mich scheinen), D 469, D 727, D 877/3 (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
- Ganymed, D 544 (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
- Grablied für die Mutter, D 616 (Anonymous / Unknown writer)