The Sorrows of Young Werther is an
epistolary novel written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and published in 1774.
The protagonist is Werther, a bourgeois young man. He decides to move to Walheim to restore the inner balance he feels lost; here he feels connected to nature. Meanwhile, he sends letters to his friend Wilhelm.
One day, in a
party, he knows Charlotte, nicknamed Lotte. Werther falls in love with her, but
she is already betrothed to another man, Albert.
However,
Lotte grows fond of him; while Werther tells Wilhelm about the sweet agony of
being next to Charlotte, she seems to reciprocate his feeling.
“I possess so much, but my love for her absorbs it all. I possess so
much, but without her I have nothing.”
Then, Werther
meets Albert, whose moral qualities he starts to admire. After all, Albert is
the opposite of the protagonist: indeed, Werther is a dreamer and an artist,
while Albert is a rational, honest man.
“The coolness of his temper contrasts strongly with the impetuosity of
mine, which I cannot conceal. He has a great deal of feeling, and is fully
sensible of the treasure he possesses in Charlotte. He is free from ill-humour,
which you know is the fault I detest most.”
However, staying
close to Lotte is becoming harder and harder: he understands that he is the
third wheel. Therefore, he decides to leave Charlotte and Albert definitely in
peace.
“Must it ever be thus-that the
source of our happiness must also be the fountain of our misery? The full and
ardent sentiment which animated my heart with the love of nature, overwhelming
me with a torrent of delight, and which brought all paradise before me, has now
become an insupportable torment, a demon which perpetually pursues and harasses
me.”
The
protagonist is a typical Romantic hero who is tormented by the clash between
the reality and his individual passions; for this reason, he is the victim of
his own instincts or of a conformist
society. Werther decides to be the master of his nature and he shows his
personality against the obstacles of society.
“I am
proud of my heart alone, it is the sole source of everything, all our strength,
happiness and misery. All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire,
but my heart is all my own”
This book had
instant success, so much so that many young people began to dress like Werther
(light blue full evening dress and yellow waistcoat) and to emulate some of Werther’s actions. For this reason, in some countries,
such as in Italy, this book was banned.
Some
autobiographic events inspired Goethe to write this story. When he started to write
this novel, he was in love with already-married Charlotte Buff, but, as it
happens to Werther, their story would end badly.
For this
reason, this book has the task of consoling those who suffer because of love.
“And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he endured
once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be thy friend, if,
owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou canst not find a dearer
companion.”
In addition, the author condemns all those who
take advantage of the love that other people feel for them.
This book offers
a deep reflection about love and how it affects our lives.
“Wilhelm,
what is the world to our hearts without love? What is a magic-lantern without
light? You have but to kindle the flame within, and the brightest figures shine
on the white wall; and, if love only show us fleeting shadows, we are yet
happy, when, like mere children, we behold them, and are transported with the
splendid phantoms.”
Moreover,
through this work, Goethe shows us what we really are.
“Once more I am a wanderer, a pilgrim, through the world. But what else are
you?”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main on 28th August
1749 from a well-off bourgeois family of an imperial councillor. When he was
16, he moved to Leipzig to study jurisprudence. Here, he began to write Anacreontic
verses.
Then, when he
was sick, he came close to pietism, which was his mother’s religion. This cult
directed him to seek always God’s signs in nature.
In 1770, he
moved to Strasburg to complete the studies. Reading Shakespeare and his meeting
J.G. Herder inspired him to write a work about his love for Friederike Brion.
The next year,
he started working in a courthouse, where he would meet and fall in love with Charlotte
Buff. He told about this impossible love in The
Sorrow of Young Werther, published in 1774. By this book, he anticipated
the Romantic movement. Moreover, Ugo Foscolo would borrow from this work to
write The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis.
Between 1786
and 1788, Goethe took a trip to Italy visiting Rome, Naples and Palermo. Here,
he found again the flair, which he had lost in Weimar.
In 1790, he
published the first edition of his masterpiece Faust. Writing this book would take about sixty years of Goethe’s
life, because he continued to write it until his death.
Goethe died
on 22nd May 1832 in his house in Weimar because of pneumonia.
He is considered one of the greatest German playwrights, poets and writers. He dedicated his life to art, music, literature and philosophy, influencing the way of thinking of great philosophers, such as Nietzsche.
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