The Sorrows of Young Werther

The purpose of this papers it to give general information about the author, Wolfgang von Goethe, and introduce as well as analyze the main character of one of his most influential works: The Sorrows of Young Werther. The protagonist of this series of confessional letters, Werther, is in fact a tragic figure who committed suicide as a result of his loneliness and critical approach to society, as well as his obsession for a woman, Lotte, whom he could not eventually conquest. Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, as well as dramatist, novelist, and scientist who lived between 1749 and 1832. Goethe's poetry expresses a modern, and revolutionary view of humanity's relationship to nature, history, and society; his plays and novels reflect a deep understanding of human individuality. According to the 19th-century English critic Matthew Arnold, Goethe must be considered not only “the manifest centre of German literature” but also one of the most multitalented figures in the entire world of literature. Goethe was born on August 28, 1749, in Frankfurt am Main, as a son of a government official. From 1765 to 1768 he studied law at Leipzig; there he first developed an interest in literature and painting and became acquainted with the dramatic works of his contemporaries Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Their influence and his own connection to the daughter of a wine merchant at whose tavern he dined are reflected in his earliest poetry and in his first dramatic works. These early plays included a one-act comedy in verse, Die Laune des Verliebten (The Lover's Caprice, 1767), and a tragedy in verse, Die Mitschuldigen (The Fellow-Culprits, 1768). Goethe's health broke down in Leipzig and he returned to Frankfurt, where, during his recuperation, he studied occult philosophy, astrology, and alchemy. Through the influence of a friend of his mother, Susanne Katharina von Klettenberg, who was a member of the Lutheran reform movement known as Pietism, Goethe