Essay on The Sorrow of a Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The story of a young Werther is one of its kind as it illuminates the life of Werther as one replete with different kinds of sorrowful experiences that collectively drive the plot. Werther is an artistically young man engrossed in sorrows evident in the collection of letters he writes in an expression of his nostalgic passion to his friend Wilhelm. Werther lives in a village dominated by mere peasants called Wahlhelm, but he unrelentingly vies it as a right place (Goethe 78). Werther as it would be, the everyday needs of an energetic young man, meets one of the beautiful natives of Wahlhelm in the name of Charlotte at a dance. The two strikingly exude enthusiasm towards each other looking to partake in the sentimental lifestyle. Apparently, Charlotte is orphaned, and she is playing a motherly figure to her siblings.

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Being aware that Charlotte is already engaged to Albert, Werther ignores it, elicit a romantic relationship with her, he even cultivates a warm friendship to both Charlotte and her fiance Albert (Goethe 92). As fate would have it, the floodgates of sorrows break loose to Werther when he realizes that Abert is more experienced and do not exude infatuation as he does. The bushing becomes more aggravated to Werther when it dons to him that even Lotte is not ready to leave her fiance for him. When things do not seems to be working for Werther, he responded to an earlier recommendation by his friend Wilhelm to take the official duty in Weimar as court attendant than to remain in the humiliating triangle.

At Weimar, the theme of rebellion together with self-defeat take a toll on Werther, his job, as a court attendant do not seem satisfying to him. Coupled with the thought of Lotte, he leaves his job and does not fear to be at loggerheads with his seniors. Before his eventual return visits a friend and unexpectedly have to face the weekly gathering of the entire aristocratic set. He, however, suffers another great embarrassment as the people there tolerated him no more and asked to leave as he is not considered a noble man (Goethe 124). Upon his return to Wilhelm after rejection, more suffering heaps on Werther as it down on him that Lotte and Robert are already married, and he can no longer advance his emotional needs. Werther is intricate into an affair that seems so complicated; he vehemently insists that he can still steal a chance to endear himself to Lotte. However, Lotte exhibits a sense of faithfulness and devotion as she refuses to leave Albert (Swales 88). Instead, Lotte bars him from coming around her after his attempt to kiss her.

Whether lives in denial of the moral act of respect to ones choice, a situation in which he finds himself refusing to accept the decision of Lotte to submit to Albert over him. Blinder as it is, Werther swore that he would rather die than to live a miserable life. Surprisingly, he writes Lotte a letter asking for Alberts pistol on the pretext that he is going for a journey (Thorson et al. 68). Unaware of what Werther intend to do with the gun, Lotte sends him the pistols. Werther nonetheless, had hinted the intention to the use of the gun earlier on that one member would have to leave the love triangle to solve the situation.

The whole life of Werther is a cycle of sorrow. From denouncement on the grounds of not being a nobleman, frustration on his court position to the complicated love triangle where Lotte would not cherish his feelings and quit her fiance Robert for him. Evidently, several suffering follows the young Werther, and indeed most are brought about by the act that he became rebellious as well as living is a self-denial state. Furthermore, Werther alienated himself from his friends, and he banished never to meet them while suicidal thoughts lingered his mind.

For Werther, the outside world is a replica of the inside world. Indeed the very moody nature is a pun that is used to refer to the world as it is around us. Besides there is no distinction between the two realms of nature, it seems to be blurred by the fact that Werthers mind is entirely preoccupied with the thought of taking away his life because of the denied love (Swales 95). Historically, love sickness has always been viewed as a temporary illness that effect mind because of its impacts that bring an emotional change associated with it. The intense is manifested in the Werther's life apparently asking for the pistols for an ill intention of committing suicide. Finally, Lotte sends him the pistols as a friend, and Werther ends up shooting himself but remains in a coma for twelve days (Thorson et al. 71). Werther finally takes the last gasp and breathes his last breath of life. Throughout the book, the life of Werther is bound by sorrow after the other. The pains are so severe the Werther makes an irrational decision to quit by committing a violent suicide.

Works Cited

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. "The sorrows of young Werther." (1999).

Swales, Martin. Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther. CUP Archive, 1987.

Thorson, Jan, and Per-Arne Oberg. "Was there a suicide epidemic after Goethe's Werther?." Archives of Suicide Research 7.1 (2003): 69-72.