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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I have so much, yet my feeling for her devours it all. I have so much, yet without her all of it is nothing.”
The Sorrows of Young Werther is Goethe's most controversial and influential work. Written in epistolary form, we follow Werther, a young, passionate artist who becomes hopelessly infatuated with Lotte, a woman already engaged to another. Consumed by his unrequited love and conflicted emotions, Werther ultimately succumbs to a fatal despair. As one of the main novels in the Sturm und Drang period, The Sorrows of Young Werther explored the themes of emotional turmoil, unrequited love, and the power of nature.
The epistolary format, while deceptively easy to follow, proves remarkably effective in conveying the immediacy and intimacy of Werther's emotional state. Goethe's prose is expressively lyrical, capturing the beauty of the natural world and the intensity of Werther's volatile emotions with such vividness. The contents of the letters are exquisitely written, despite being described as long-winded by others, and are delightful to read.
Werther, despite his flaws, is a complex and compelling protagonist. His passionate nature, his sensitivity to beauty, and his unwavering devotion to Lotte make him both sympathetic and frustrating. He is the type of protagonist with whom you'd root for at first, and with whom you'd grow tired of towards the end. Werther is initially charming, the typical, perfect “noble and receptive hero” that everyone admires. However, as the story progresses, Werther's character turns for the worse. He becomes overbearing, excessively emotional, and so fueled by his obsession with Lotte that he negatively affects everyone around him. Lotte, his love interest, is not fully fleshed-out as a character and instead, she is seen as an unattainable icon that Werther longs for. Albert, on the other hand, is depicted as a sensible character that contrasts Werther (as intended).
I particularly love the keen observations and artistic descriptions of nature. It evokes this living painting with swirls of colors that left a great impression on me. The prose of this novel is also a key factor, as I am fond of reading narratives that make me feel I am standing in the main character's shoes. However, Werther is definitely not the main character that I would want to imagine myself for so long. His character is deeply frustrating, and I found his constant brooding and self-pity to be somewhat draining. Werther's character development, though nuanced, ultimately left me feeling quite drained after reading. Goethe masterfully crafted this character as an archetype of the Romantic hero, a symbol of yearning for the unattainable and unbridled emotions.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dieses thema und emotionen dieser art lösen in mir meistens eine mischung aus mitleid, erinnerungen an eigenes leid (was dann leider wieder unangenehm hervorgerufen wird) und etwas von fremdscham aus. man hat selber in sich diese obsession erlebt, es an anderen gesehen und die gefühle werden niemals komplett definierbar sein. es sind fantasien, die gefühle sind dennoch real, irgendwie dann doch selbst fabriziert, aber wieso tut es dann so weh? und dann sieht man es an anderen und die gefühlslage scheint naiv und dumm. trotzdem nachvollziehbar, aber es ist nie das leid wert. was auch immer „wert“ verdient. sobald man jedenfalls darüber hinweg ist und sich NICHT umbringt (auch wenn es verlockend scheint) ist es am ende manchmal fast so bedeutungslos, dass es schon absurd ist. was ist liebe überhaupt!!!!
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Melodramatic and overbearing, and still I can’t help but love this book.
The first in epistolary German literature that made suicide cool. I gave this novel an extra star for it's use of the term 'glittering misery'. Damn that was good. Wether though, what a third wheel, am I right?
For full disclosure, this is just a review of Werther, not the selected writings. Although I'd hope to see an improvement in those, if I'm being honest. While Goethe is obviously an exceptionally talented writer, the beauty of his prose cannot always compensate for his unbearable protagonist. I found that the beginning of Werther's Sorrows were quite compelling, but after his letters proceeded to say more or less the exact same thing in new poetic paragraphs for the next eighty pages, I found the text a labor to get through. Not because the language or content was difficult, but because Werther was. When the narration changes towards the back half of the book, I found myself much more engaged. On the whole, however, I fail to see how this repetitive story took the world by storm 250 years ago.