The Sorrows of Young Werther"Be on your guard … and take care not to fall in love!" Visiting an idyllic German village, Werther, a sensitive and romantic young man, meets and falls in love with sweet-natured Lotte. Although he realizes that Lotte is to marry Albert, he is unable to subdue his passion for her and his infatuation torments him to the point of absolute despair. The first great ‘confessional’ novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther draws both on Goethe’s own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff and on the death of his friend Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem. The book was an immediate success and a cult rapidly grew up around it, resulting in numerous imitations as well as violent criticism and even suppression for its apparent recommendation of suicide. Goethe’s sensitive exploration of the mind of a young artist at odds with society and ill-equipped to cope with life is now considered the first great tragic novel of European literature. This edition includes notes and an introduction by Michael Hulse who explores the origins of the novel in the author’s life and examines its impact on European culture. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 5 |
THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER | 21 |
BOOK ONE | 25 |
BOOK TWO | 73 |
THE EDITOR TO THE READER | 106 |
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Common terms and phrases
Albert asked beautiful breast Charlotte Buff Christian Kestner Colma creature dance daughter Daura dear friend dear Wilhelm death delightful Dichtung und Wahrheit earth eldest Empfindsamkeit English country dance entire soul epistolary novel everything exclaimed eyes Farewell fate father fear feel fellow felt forgive garden gaze girl Goethe Goethe's novel Götz von Berlichingen grave hand happy hear heard heart heaven Heinrich Adam hill husband imagination Jerusalem kissed leave letter linden look Lotte Lotte's Malchen Michael Hulse Morar morning mother nature never night once Ossian passion pistols pleasure returned Salgar scene sense servant silent song sorrows spirit stood Sturm und Drang suicide talking tears tell thee things thou thought Today told took Torquato Tasso trees voice Wahlheim walk Werther Wetzlar wife Wilhelm Jerusalem wish woman words wretched writing wrote young