The Sorrows of Young Werther

Johann Wolfgang Goethe published his epistolary book The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774. It was one of the key works of German literature's Sturm und Drang era and had an impact on the subsequent Romantic movement. In five and a half weeks of intense writing from January to March 1774, Goethe completed Werther. A compilation of letters from Werther, a young artist with a sensitive and passionate nature, to his friend Wilhelm was published as The Sorrows of Young Werther. These provide a personal description of his time spent in the fictional village of Wahlheim, where he first met Charlotte, a stunning little girl who looked after her siblings after their mother passed away. Despite being aware that Charlotte is engaged to Albert, a man eleven years her older, Werther yet falls in love with Charlotte. After a while, his grief becomes so unbearable that he has to leave Wahlheim for Weimar, where he meets Fräulein von B. When he visits a friend unintentionally and unpreparedly has to attend the weekly gathering of the aristocratic set there, he feels tremendous discomfort. Werther shoots himself in the head, however, doesn't die until twelve hours after his wife's demise. The novel finishes with hints that Charlotte could pass away from a shattered heart.