In famous publications, Elective Affinities is a 1809 scientific novella by German polymath Johann von Goethe in which the characters are considered as chemical species who intimate passions are governed by the reaction laws of “elective” or chemical affinity. [1] Goethe's Elective Affinities is considered as the founding book of human chemistry. [2] The original German title page (Die Wahlverwandtschaften) is pictured adjacent.

Goethe's theory of human elective affinities, stimulated may writers in the years to follow. One such person was German sociologist Max Weber, who had begun reading Goethe at the age of 14, later constructing a theory of social human elective affinities. [3]

Reproductions
Since its publication, Goethe's 1809 novella has been the stimulus for several reproductions:

● The 1993 oil-on-canvas painting (Elective Affinities) by Belgian surrealist artist by René Magritteis themed on Goethe's Elective Affinities.
● The 1962 film Jules et Jim by director Francois Truffaut was filmed while reading Elective Affinities.
● The 1993 play Arcadia by British playwright Tom Stoppard is a modern re-write of Elective Affinities, juxtaposed between the years 1809 and 1989.
● The 1996 film Le affinità elettive by Paolo Taviani is the French-Italian version of the book.

See also
● Goethe’s human chemistry

References
1. (a) Goethe, Johann von. (1809). Elective Affinities. New York: Penguin Classics.
(b) Smith, P.D. (2000). “Elective Affinity: a Tale of Two Cultures”, Prometheus, 46-65.
2. (a) Thims, Libb. (2007). Human Chemistry (Volume One), (preview). Morrisville, NC: LuLu.
(b) Thims, Libb. (2007). Human Chemistry (Volume Two), (preview), (ch. 10: "Goethe's Affinities", pgs. 371-422). Morrisville, NC: LuLu.
3. Herbert, Richard, H. (1978). 'Max Weber's Elective Affinities: Sociology within the Bounds of Pure Reason', American Journal of Sociology, 84, 366-85.