If  the  allegory  is  consistently  developed,  we  must  suppose
that  the  Olive-Branch,  the  Wreath  of  Ears,  and  the  Fancy-
Wreath  are  types  of  female  character,  or  of  the  different
.forms  of  attraction  wheiieby  women  draw  towards  them  the
complementary  male  characters.  Schnetger,  however,  gives
a  different  interpretation:    "Joy    and    enjoyment  flourish


NOTES.  331

Bnder  the  sheltering  branch  of  Olive,  the  certain  warrant  of
peace.  Under  its  shadow,  in  the  Garden  of  Life,  Nature
creates  the  Golden  Ear  for  the  one  who, desires  the  Beauti-
ful in  union  with  the  Useful ;  and  Fancy,  or  Art,  creates  a
thousand  wreaths  for  the  other,  who  only  takes  delig^ht  in
gay  and  graceful  forms."

Goethe's  maxim,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Masquerade,
seems  to  have  been  that  of  the  Manager,  in  the  "  Prelude  on
the  Stage  "  ;  —

"Who  offers  much,  brings  something  unlo  many."

I  do  not  think  it  necessary,  therefore,  to  load  each  detail
with  all  the  varieties  of  explanation.  The  reader,  in  any
case,  will  find  himself  infected  by  the  suggestiveness  of  the
text,  and  thereby  unconsciously  led  to  interpret  the  forms
according  to  his  own  individual,  taste.
19.      What  oiir  name  is,  Tkeopkrastus.
The  reference  is  not  to  Theophrastus  Paracelsus,  but  to
Thegphrastus  of  Lesbos,  born  B.  C.  390,  the  disciple  of
Plato  and  the  successor  of  Aristotle.  Among  his  extant
works  is  a  "Natural  History  of  Plants,"  a  translation  of
which,  by  Sprengel,  was  published  at  Altona,  in  1822 ;  and
his  name  was  probably  thereby  suggested  to  Goethe.
