The relationship between Werther and Lotte
GERST2250
Madness and Genius
Prof. Anette Schwarz
Annabelle (Yameng He)
Mother or Lover?
The Relationship between Werther and Lotte
Do we look for people we know in those we meet? After reading this book, I found the relationship between Charlotte and Werther most mysterious. As most people consider they are true friends, but as to me they are more like mother and son. Werther is perhaps redirecting the love he denies to his mother to Lotte, whom he sees as a perfect motherly being. This becomes further complicated, of course, as Lotte becomes increasingly sexualized, which we also see happening in the latter part of the book.
Before analyzing the nature of the relationship between Werther and Lotte, it is imperative to examine Werther’s past. One of the most ambiguous threads in the book is the unexplained relationship between Werther and his mother - a relationship that doesn't receive much interpretation in the novel, but nonetheless informs readers a great deal of Wether’s potential intention, leading to his actions. His aggressive and firm stance on the notion of one’s living his life according to his own passions instead of the directions of someone else may suggest that Werther intentionally avoids living his life according to his mother’s guidance and in so doing. In one letter, Werther writes that he “won’t need the money from [his] mother, for which [he] asked her the other day” - implying that Werther remains financially dependent upon his mother. In the next letter, Werther writes about visiting the place of his birth by saying“I plan to enter the town by the same gate through which my mother drove out with me when she left the dear familiar place after the death of my father to shut herself in the unbearable town where she now lives.” Goethe reveals that Werther is on uneasy relationship with his mother, however, he depends on his mother financially, and yet he does not write her letters directly, instead relying on Wilhelm as a
Madness and Genius
Prof. Anette Schwarz
Annabelle (Yameng He)
Mother or Lover?
The Relationship between Werther and Lotte
Do we look for people we know in those we meet? After reading this book, I found the relationship between Charlotte and Werther most mysterious. As most people consider they are true friends, but as to me they are more like mother and son. Werther is perhaps redirecting the love he denies to his mother to Lotte, whom he sees as a perfect motherly being. This becomes further complicated, of course, as Lotte becomes increasingly sexualized, which we also see happening in the latter part of the book.
Before analyzing the nature of the relationship between Werther and Lotte, it is imperative to examine Werther’s past. One of the most ambiguous threads in the book is the unexplained relationship between Werther and his mother - a relationship that doesn't receive much interpretation in the novel, but nonetheless informs readers a great deal of Wether’s potential intention, leading to his actions. His aggressive and firm stance on the notion of one’s living his life according to his own passions instead of the directions of someone else may suggest that Werther intentionally avoids living his life according to his mother’s guidance and in so doing. In one letter, Werther writes that he “won’t need the money from [his] mother, for which [he] asked her the other day” - implying that Werther remains financially dependent upon his mother. In the next letter, Werther writes about visiting the place of his birth by saying“I plan to enter the town by the same gate through which my mother drove out with me when she left the dear familiar place after the death of my father to shut herself in the unbearable town where she now lives.” Goethe reveals that Werther is on uneasy relationship with his mother, however, he depends on his mother financially, and yet he does not write her letters directly, instead relying on Wilhelm as a