Sorrows of Young Werther

Author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Germany)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-07-01
Features: About two hundred years ago, a young man who had recently left school in Germany wrote a novella that shook the hearts of an entire generation of German youth, causing a huge impact in Germany and across Europe. This author was the great German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and this outstanding work is The Sorrows of Young Werther. The Sorrows of Young Werther was published in 1774 and is one of the most important works from Goethe's early period. Its publication was also a landmark event in the history of German literature. Before the publication of the second part of Faust, Goethe's name was always associated with The Sorrows of Young Werther for fifty years in Europe. The Sorrows of Young Werther is not long, and its plot is neither complex nor convoluted. The main characters are only Werther and Lotte, and the entire novel is woven together by the thread of the protagonist Werther's tragic love story and his repeated failures in society, forming a complete novel. Goethe wrote this novel in the form of epistolary and is divided into two parts. Part One: Werther is a young man who is skilled in poetry and painting and has an immense love for nature. He lives a carefree life relying on his father's inheritance. In the spring of 1771, to handle his mother's inheritance, he came to a remote small village. Whether it was the beauty of nature there or the sincere farmers of the local countryside, it all deeply interested him, to the point where he became completely captivated. Soon after, at a country dance, he met Lotte, the young, beautiful, understanding, and well-educated daughter of a judge. They clicked instantly, and Werther began to frequent her company, experiencing a period of heart-stirring and unforgettable happiness. However, Lotte was already engaged to a young man named Albert. Soon after, her fiancé returned from his travels and was appointed to the Marquis's court, where he quickly became friends with Werther. But his mature and career-driven personality stood in stark contrast to Werther's passionate and impulsive nature. Feeling that his pursuit of Lotte was hopeless, Werther's heart was cast in shadow. To escape this spiritual torment and awkward situation, he was forced to leave the beloved village and Lotte he had deeply loved and take a position at an embassy in another place. Part Two: While working at the embassy, Werther frequently faced constant nitpicking from the pedantic ambassador. One spring day the following year, while dining at Count C's house, he happened to encounter a gathering of local nobles. Werther never imagined that someone like him, a small and insignificant figure, had no right to be among them, and he was mocked and ridiculed by the nobles, causing a scandal that spread throughout the town. Unable to endure any longer, Werther resigned from his position at the embassy and became a guest at another Marquis's estate. However, he later discovered that he had no common ground with this Marquis either, and with his longing for Lotte intensifying, he returned to the original small village after a few months. Following the same path he had taken years earlier to pick up Lotte for the country dance, he recalled the past, but everything had changed, and everything was like a fleeting dream. Lotte was already married. The despair of love, the coldness of the world, and the corruption of the bureaucracy—all made Werther unable to endure any longer, and he began to think of leaving this world to find eternal release. A few days before Christmas of the same year, he visited Lotte's home once again. While reading a passage that moved him deeply, he could no longer restrain himself and passionately embraced and kissed her. Two days later, after writing a letter to Lotte that he could not bring himself to finish, Werther took her husband's gun and ended his own life at midnight. As per his own wishes, the local people buried him in the place he had chosen, with no priest or clergyman present to conduct the funeral. According to Christian doctrine, those who commit suicide are not allowed to be buried in cemeteries.