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Taught in German. Goethe’s novel is among the most influential in the German tradition and established the genre of the Bildungsroman. Although the novel is often considered a tale of personal formation and social integration, the reverse of this statement is true as well. Wilhelm Meister is a novel of splintered relations and social disintegration, as even the best laid plans are disrupted by unexpected circumstances and uncontrollable desires. We will read the entire novel in German over the semester with an eye toward the motif of theater and the question of puppets, puppet masters, and invisible hands, especially as thematized in the mysterious Turmgesellschaft introduced at the novel’s conclusion.