The Sorrows of Young Werther
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1774)
Novelc. 130 pages
“I have possessed that heart, that noble soul, in whose presence I seemed to be more than I really was.”
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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1774)
“I have possessed that heart, that noble soul, in whose presence I seemed to be more than I really was.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1774)
Werther falls hopelessly in love with Lotte, who is engaged to another man, and the passion destroys him. Goethe wrote this at twenty-four, drawing on his own unrequited love, and it made him famous across Europe overnight. Young men dressed like Werther; some reportedly died like him. Goethe spent the rest of his long life somewhat embarrassed by its excesses. The novel is in letters, intimate and overwrought, and the emotion is so naked it creates discomfort. Romanticism announced itself here, with all its dangerous intensity. Werther cannot moderate his feelings. That is his tragedy and his appeal.