Sorrows of Young Werther

Author: Goethe
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: The protagonist, Werther, is a young man from the bourgeois class. He arrives in a small rural town and meets a young woman named Lotte at a country dance. He falls in love with Lotte. However, Lotte is already engaged to someone else. Werther realizes that he cannot win Lotte and decides to leave, accepting a position as a secretary to an ambassador. The ambassador's conservatism, petty habits, and bureaucratic corruption, as well as the deceitful interpersonal relationships of the time, cause great suffering to Werther. He resigns from this post and is invited to the estate of a count. However, at the count's estate, Werther finds that his talents are still unable to be realized. Love is shattered, and the rigidly hierarchical society abandons Werther, while Werther also despises that dark society. In the end, Werther takes his own life in despair.