Book review of The Sorrows of

Introduction

The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is an epistolary, loosely autobiographical novel. It was first published in 1774 and its revised edition was published in 1787. This novel has been translated into various kinds of languages.

Goethe present a tragedy of Werther in the novel. Werther fell in love with a lady called Charlotte who had been engaged with a nice man named Albert. Werther tried to maintain their friendship in a few months. But at the end he was too painful to leave Charlotte and he chose to commit suicide to get out of pain.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), was born into a wealthy but common citizenry family by the river Main in Frankfurt, a city of Holy Roman Empire. He had a great passion on drawing when he was a child. Also he learned dancing, riding and some kinds of languages such as Latin and French at that time. In 1765, he learned law in Leipzig but he prefer literature to law. But he came back home because of illness. In 1770, he studied in Strasbourg in which he was astonished by the picturesque landscape. He became acquainted with Johann Gottfried Herder there and they became close friend soon. With her accomplishment, Goethe became interested in Shakespeare, Ossian, Homer and other folk poetry. In the same year, he fell into love with Friederike Brion. In 1771, he got the academic degree and went home. He then be a lawyer but actually his true love is literature. He went to Wetzlar for practicing law in 1772 on the demand of his father. He fell in love with Charlotte Buff, the daughter of a judge, when he first met her on a carriage to a party in June, 1772. Also he made friends with some envoys there including Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem and Johann Christian Kestner who was the fiancé of Charlotte. After knowing that he could not have anything more than friendship with Charlotte, Goethe went back to Frankfurt in September. No sooner did he get home when he knew that his sister had been in Baden with her husband. Worse still, he did not been invited to the wedding ceremony of Charlotte and Kestner. What made him nearly desperate was that his friend Jerusalem committed suicide because he fell into the unrequited affection with his friend’s wife. All the factors above made him create The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Not only did he want to refresh himself by writing this novel, but also he was eager to express his dissatisfaction of the society. He wrote a young man who wanted to break the decayed society and the ole-fashioned rules at that time. Werther was a man with great passion and he was eager to freedom. From these characteristics of the main character, I can conclude that there are two purpose of Goethe to write this novel. The first one is to reduce his sadness caused by the factors above. The second one is to criticize the feudal society then and to express the passion for life, the desire for freedom. The ‘Sorrows of Young Werther’ in the title implies that the fighting with feudal society was very difficult. It also implies that many young people wanted to escape from such a society but they failed and thus the society was surrounded with a desperate atmosphere then. In my opinion, this book was aimed to the youth at first although it had great influence on the world after it was published.

It is an appropriate piece of writing about the problems mentioned above for the audience. On the personal plane, Goethe did give up his thought of committing suicide. He faced to the difficulties with courage after finishing this book. On the social plane, the book had raised the public awareness about freedom and humanity. It became so controversial that many writers, poets and even officers paid attention to it. Its success was far beyond what Goethe thought possible. In conclusion, The Sorrows of Young Werther is a suitable work.

Summary of the Content

The book is divided into three sections: Book I and Book II. Most of the book is presented as a collection of letters written by Werther to his friend Wilhelm.

Book I is mainly about how Werther makes friends with Charlotte but decides to go away when Albert come home. Werther, a young sensitive but passionate artist, meet Charlotte on his way to a dancing party. But Charlotte has engaged with Albert then. She is a nice and careful lady and after her mother’s death, she takes care of her little brothers and sisters. Werther dances with her and cheats with her in the dancing party. They both find that they can understand each other. Werther falls in love with Charlotte as well as Charlotte thinks Werther have much more in common with her husband-to-be. Werther always goes to Charlotte’s house and cheats and walks with her. Albert comes back after two months. He makes friends with Werther but they have an argument towards the subject of committing suicide. Werther knows that Charlotte is going to marry Albert so he decided to leaves town for a job in the royal court at Weimar sadly.

In Book II, Werther finds the official job is very disappointed to him although he makes friend with two aristocrats named Count C and Fraulein von B. Also, his leader has a strong feeling of envy towards him. The fraulein snubs him at a party and embarrasses him, which is the last straw for Werther at Weimar. Werther is fed up with the job so he resigned from his position, moving to another friend, a prince. But he finds himself irrevocably drawn back to Charlotte. When he comes back to Wahlheim, he only discovers that his infatuation for Charlotte is stronger. Albert is unsatisfied with this relationship so he request Charlotte for leaving Werther. Besides, Werther comes across to a man end up being mad because of his affection of Charlotte. Meanwhile the farmer who he cheats with in the past is commit a murder because he loves a widow. Werther pleads for him but all in vain. Hardly does Charlotte orders Werther not to visit her until Christmas Eve when he becomes hopeless and wants to die. But he comes to Charlotte next day and kisses her so Charlotte tells him must stop coming eventually. Werther sends a letter to Charlotte asking for Albert's pistols, saying that he's going on a journey and will need them. Charlotte sadly sends them over. That night, he shoots himself in the head. He dies in tomorrow morning surrounded by Charlotte, Albert and a group of kids. He was buried without a church service underneath a tree.

Analysis of Text

The style of The Sorrows of Young Werther tends to be technical and logical.

First, Goethe used the epistolary style which was fashionable in the eighteenth century. He presented most of the story in letters. Since the letter is a form of private communication, Goethe can shows Werther’s emotion which will be hidden in mind more clearly.

‘…You should see how foolish I look in company when her name is mentioned, particularly when I am asked plainly how I like her. How I like her! I detest the phrase. What sort of creature must he be who merely liked Charlotte, whose whole heart and senses were not entirely merely liked Charlotte… ‘ (Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774)

As words Werther writes, his behavior is foolish when Charlotte’s name is mentioned. He falls madly in love with her. It is possible that Werther would not show his thoughts and emotions to the public. But it tends to be clear to readers in the epistolary style.

Second, the plots are presented in chronological order. Each letter is titled by date. For example,

‘JULY 11.

Madame M—is very ill…’ (Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774)

Using this method, the logic and the development of the plots would seem t be more clearly.

Third, the rhetoric of paradox is widely used in the book. It highlights the struggle in Werther’s mind. Also, Werther himself is a paradox. He wants to stop going to Charlotte’s but he cannot resist the temptation. He knows that Charlotte is married with Albert but he does not know how to face this cruel fact. He cannot live together with Charlotte forever but he does not want to put down his infatuation and thus he is painful. Here is an example:

‘…I have often determined not to see her so frequently. But who could keep such a resolution? Every day I am exposed to the temptation, and promise faithfully that to-morrow I will really stay away: but, when tomorrow comes, I find some irresistible reason for seeing her; and, before I can account for it, I am with her again….’ (Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774)

Using paradox, Goethe presents the painful process in Werther’s mind. He determines not to see Charlotte so frequently but he cannot is desire to go tomorrow morning. Readers tend to feel the sorrows of Werther more easily through the rhetoric of paradox.

Forth, the nature description is very precise and detailed. Only when a person love the nature can he describe the nature in such a detailed way. Werther writes numerous picturesque scenery to Wilhelm.

‘…when I heard the groves about me melodious with the music of birds, and saw the million swarms of insects dancing in the last golden beams of the sun, whose setting rays awoke the humming beetles from their grassy beds….’ (Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774)

From the sentences above, it appears that Werther is a lover of the great nature. He will observe the nature around him patiently. Goethe shows Werther’s characteristic by the precise description of nature.

By these five technics, the conflict between Werther and Albert, Werther and the conservative society and his dream and the reality are presented vividly. Werther fights against class. He wants to live in a classless and free society and that is why he resigns from the official position. He chases a life with freedom but his mother and his friends try to persuade him to do something with a good payment. Also, he is unsatisfied with the conservational officials but he cannot change them. His infatuation for Charlotte is the focal point in this novel. He cannot live with Charlotte forever because of Albert, the husband of Charlotte. He pursue a perfect affection but cannot gain anything in the end so he ends up committing suicide.

Evaluation of the Text

Although the inspiration of the book is from Goethe’s real life, he use the typical scenes for instance, the death of Werther is from the death of Jerusalem. As a result, this book is not his autobiography. He adds his social ideal, moral principle and judgment of literature in the book. Besides Werther is a typical young man in the eighteenth century. Capitalism became stronger and feudalism became weaker in that era but the capitalist in Germany did not own the ability to reform. Goethe was depressed by them and he called for freedom and liberation in his works. Not only did Goethe show the plot and the conflict vividly by his skillful writing in this book but also he relate the novel with the society trend which is the most outstanding strength of this book.

The book is useful to the audience. It has a strong cultural reference. Georg Brandes (1842-1927), a Danish critic and scholar, considers it not only describe the pain and aloneness of a person but it shows the emotion, the pain and the hope of all the era. Werther represents the brilliance and the spirit of the new times (Brandes, 1901). Sentimentalism was popular between 1850 and 1870. The youth at that time were as sensitive as Werther. They could not bear being controlled and tied but they were hapless when they wanted to fight with feudalism. They regard life as a burden to resist the society (Goethe, My Life: Poetry and Truth, 1833). Also the class society made many young people unsatisfied at that era. Besides, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a philosopher, writer, and composer of eighteenth century, advocated natural human which is one of the theme on The Sorrows of Young Werther. Hence, this book was the represent of new times and was very popular among the youth then. Goethe says that "The explosion Werther caused was so far-reaching because the young people of that era had already undermined themselves; and the shock was so great because everyone could now burst forth with his own exaggerated demands, unsatisfied passions, and imaginary sufferings." (Goethe, My Life: Poetry and Truth, 1833). It appears that the book is so successful that people in all class pay attention to it. Even Napoleon Bonaparte considered it one of the great works of European literature, having written a Goethe-inspired soliloquy in his youth and carried Werther with him on his campaigning to Egypt. It presents a dream of freedom and a different sense of world. Also, many young people dressed in the clothing style of Werther and Charlotte by the influence of this book (Payne, 2010) (Alvarez, 1990).

But there are still some negative influence of it. Some younger man commit suicide imitating Werther. Some authorities says that it will have bad influence on the citizens.

From where I stand, The Sorrows of Young Werther is a masterpiece and I like it. The plot and the descriptions are brilliant and moving. I can feel how strong the affection in Werther’s mind is. I will full of passion when Werther tell us his points. I will be excited if I Werther describes his delighted life and the magnificent scene. I am moved by his loyalty to Charlotte. I am full of sorrow and feel deep sympathy after knowing he is going to leave the world. Not only does the vivid description win my heart but also that the book has a dramatic culture impact draw my attention. Different from some novels which have nothing common to the real world, The Sorrows of Young Werther calls for liberate and freedom which shows Goethe’s sense of responsibility. It is what a great author should as well as what every citizen should do.

To sum up, The Sorrows of Young Werther is a masterpiece in the eighteenth century. And it remains Goethe’s most popular work. Though today’s readers tend to view this work with cooled heads than those of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the book is still a great work.

Reference

Alvarez, A. (1990). The Savage God: A Story of Suicide.

Brandes, G. (1901). Main Currents in the Literature of the Nineteenth Century.

Goethe, J. W. (1774). The Sorrows of Young Werther. bookman books, LTD.

Goethe, J. W. (1833). My Life: Poetry and Truth.

Payne, S. (2010). Carrying the Torch.

2016-01-09

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