The Sorrows of Young Werther

novel by Goethe

Also known as: “Die Leiden des jungen Werthers”

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The Sorrows of Young Werther, novel by J.W. von Goethe, published in German as Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in 1774. It was the first novel of the Sturm und Drang movement. The novel is the story of a sensitive, artistic young man who demonstrates the fatal effects of a predilection for absolutes—whether those of love, art, society, or thought. Unable to reconcile his inner, poetic fantasies and ideas with the demands of the everyday...