The Sorrows of Young Werther (Oneworld Classics) - Softcover

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184749157X ISBN 13: 9781847491572

Publisher: Oneworld Classics, 2011

Synopsis

Partly autobiographical, and the prototype for many later Romantic works in its depiction of the sensitive, tortured Romantic hero, Goethe's seminal classic is a timeless masterpiece of world literature

 

Presented as a collection of confessional letters written by the eponymous protagonist, The Sorrows of Young Werther charts the emotional journey of a young man who—during a stay in a picturesque German village—falls in love with Lotte, a sweet-natured local woman engaged to another man. As he realizes that his passion is doomed to failure and constant pain, Werther contemplates taking the most drastic measures. The first great "confessional" novel, it draws both on Goethe's own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff as well as on the death of a close friend.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

When this book was published in 1774, it inspired a mass cult of feelings (and reputedly a few suicides) and made its author one of the first literary celebrities. It is a story of a tormented young man whose fixation on an inaccessible woman culminates in tragedy may be read as a celebration of unfettered emotion or as a mercilessly accurate portrait of a man whose dedication to pure feeling turns him into a monster.

From the Inside Flap:

A major work of German romanticism in a translation that is acknowledged as the definitive English language version. The Vintage Classics edition also includes NOVELLA, Goethe's poetic vision of an idyllic pastoral society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oneworld Classics
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 184749157X
• ISBN 13: 9781847491572
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128