“Elective Affinities” (post 3) by Goethe: Title may mean characters had minds of their own

This novel’s meaning has never been clear: “From the time of its publication to today, Goethe's novel, Die Wahlverwandtschaften (Elective Affinities, 1809), has aroused a storm of interpretive confusion” (Wikipedia) (1).

I suspect that Goethe chose the title, “Elective Affinities, when he found that his characters would do whatever they wanted or elected to do, consistent with the study of fiction writers and their characters by Marjorie Taylor (2).

1. Wikipedia. “Elective Affinities.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elective_Affinities

2. Marjorie Taylor, et al. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.uoregon.edu/dist/7/8783/files/2014/07/TaylorHodgesKohanyi-130mpe0.pdf