What was the Sturm und Drang movement?

Sturm und Drang (German for "Storm and Stress") was a late 18th-century German literary movement that prioritized intense emotion, nature, and human individualism over the rationalism of the Enlightenment.123

Key characteristics and context include:

• Philosophical Roots: Influenced by thinkers like Rousseau and Johann Georg Hamann, the movement emphasized apprehending truth through faith and sensory experience rather than pure reason.1
• Literary Focus: Dramatists rejected French Neoclassical conventions in favor of Shakespearean grandeur, focusing on character-driven narratives. They often explored social and political critiques, such as the struggles of the middle class and the injustices of the aristocracy.13
• Key Figures: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller were the movement's most prominent members. Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) became the movement's defining work, capturing the "world-weariness" and emotional turmoil of the generation.143
• Legacy: The movement was a period of intense generational protest that eventually exhausted itself as its leading figures moved toward German classicism.13