von Stein wrote two more texts, both of which were untitled and have also been lost. The first was a story and the second another comedy. Rino (1776) Dido (1794) Neues Freiheitssystem oder die Verschwörungen gegen die Liebe (New System of Freedom or the Conspiracy Against Love) (1798) Die zwey Emilien (The Two Emilies) (1800) Charlotte and Goethe In 1774 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charlotte von Stein met in Weimar. It was the beginning of a deep friendship which lasted for twelve years. During this time she had a strong influence on Goethe's work and life. Goethe took into his house her eleven-year-old son Fritz (her darling), in May 1783, and took over the boy's education to her satisfaction. This period of her life might have been the happiest since she was in the center of social life and attention and met many famous personalities, e.g., Friedrich Schiller, Karl Ludwig Knebel, and Johann Georg Zimmermann. She frequently corresponded with Schiller's wife Charlotte. In the eyes of her contemporaries Knebel has given an outstanding depiction of von Stein's nature: Loneliness and death In 1786 the deep friendship between Charlotte and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ended with his sudden departure to Italy without even telling her he wanted to go. Not until after 1800 did their relationship begin to normalize and even then it never became as close as before. After her husband had died in 1793 Charlotte retired from society and became more and more lonely. In 1794 she wrote the drama Dido— a literary self-portrait that also depicted her disappointment about Goethe's behavior. It reflected the years from 1770 to 1790 and the situation in Weimar at that time. As depicted by Virgil, Dido (Queen of Carthage) was forsaken by her lover Aeneas who set off for Italy - an obvious parallel to von Stein herself and Goethe. Charlotte von Stein died on 6 January 1827 at the age of 85. Legacy The German poet Peter Hacks presented his play "Gespräch im Hause Stein über den abwesenden Herrn von Goethe" (A Discussion in the Stein Home about the Absent Mr. Goethe) in 1974. This monodrama became a worldwide success and is seen as a subtle analysis of the fate of Charlotte von Stein. References External links picture of the Stein family house in Weimar Full German Text of Charlotte von Stein's play Dido 1742 births 1827 deaths German ladies-in-waiting