The Sorrows of Young Werther | Part Two

  “It is decided, Lotte. I shall die, and I write this to you not in romantic fervour but calmly, on the morning of the day on which I shall see you for the last time.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

    So now we have come to it—the second and last of my posts on The Sorrows of Young Werther. Prepare yourselves, for chaos shall follow, because this book is objectively chaotic, and thus my thoughts are scattered. But first, for those who have not had the redoubtable pleasure of perusing this book, I must provide a Warning.

     

SPOILERS SHALL HENCEFORTH COMMENCE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

    There, now that that’s out of the way, shall we get started?

    Chaotic is indeed an apt description for this book—as I mentioned in my last post, Goethe used part of his own life as inspiration for Werther’s lovesickness. But more than that, the sheer amount of Werther’s feelings and seeing them in full force is rather overwhelming. From the beginning, Goethe drops little hints as to what might happen at the end—and then it does. But before we get there, a little recap. 

    At the beginning of Part Two, Werther has returned home from Wahlheim, having been urged to do so by his friend Wilhelm, and has found employment with an ambassador of some sort, known as the Envoy. His mind seems to clear, and he seems far more lucid than when he was with Lotte. But he hates his job, and then a class scandal forces him to leave. He tries to go home, but finds it too changed. So, floundering in despair, he does the very thing he absolutely should not have done. 

    He goes back. 

    “—I want to be nearer Lotte, that is all,” he writes, almost a childlike plea. “And I laugh at my heart—and do its bidding” (18 June). 

    Werther you fool!! That is the worst thing to do. At all. Ever in the history of—well, ever. To borrow a quote from Gandalf, “Of all the fools in love, Werther, you are the worst!” He is cementing his own doom. Literally. Because you see, when he returns to Wahlheim, Lotte and Albert are already married. He’s just torturing himself with his obsession, and he becomes dismal, “poor company”, not at all like his former “post-Lotte” self. It even gets so bad as—well, he starts having dreams, he comes to Lotte more and more when Albert is away, content and yet the farthest thing from content when he is in her presence. 

    It’s nearing Christmas. Albert’s gone away on business again, and Lotte is home alone with her younger siblings. Werther comes two days before Christmas, and finds her wrapping gifts for the children. She tells him to leave, but when he refuses, she suggests they read some poetry together. 

    Now, this too is a horrible idea. If you’ve ever read Canto 5 of Dante’s Inferno, you would know this. Do not under ANY circumstances read love poetry with an illicit lover. Werther and Lotte, however, did not seem to think of any such consequences. Werther, being the passionate clinging fool that he is, tries to embrace Lotte. She, not certain of her feelings at all at this moment, pushed him away and demands that he not come back. This cements Werther’s decision. Heavy at heart, he returns home. Never again will he step foot over Lotte’s threshold. 

    He intents to kill himself. 

    After Albert’s return he sends his servant to ask for the loan of his pistols—for he says he’s going on a journey. At this time, this was quite a normal thing. Albert doesn’t even blink and sent the pistols. Lotte, however—she trembles, for she has some idea that something terrible is about to happen. But she says nothing, for expressing her concerns to Albert would mean telling him about the evening before. And she cannot force herself to do that.

    At around midnight, Werther’s neighbour hears a shot. But he dismisses it as thunder, and goes about his business (whatever business he might have at twelve in the morning), little aware that the volatile young man next door has just shot himself in the head. But he is not dead. No! Hours later, his servant finds him motionless on the floor, but his heart is still pumping. Albert and the doctor rush over, but there is nothing they can do. 

And this is why…

    Six hours later, Werther is dead. 

    No priest attends his funeral.

    So, you will ask, what is the point of this story? It’s dark, it’s depressing, it doesn’t make any sense—all of those are true. But I say that despite that, it is worth reading. Not only in order to learn what NOT to do, but also to learn more of human nature and to be wary. For it we’re not careful, we might find ourselves in Werther’s situation, raising Lotte and his misordered love for her (to borrow a term from Lewis) higher even then God, so that his very adoration becomes a god in itself. 

    Lewis warns against this in his Four Loves, and Werther is a perfect example—even more so then Dante (of the Divine Comedy), who in the end recognises his faults and puts an end to them. Werther succumbs to them. And as Christians, we are called to do the very opposite of what he chose to do—to place our faith and our trust and our love in God, to glorify Him in all things, and not let our emotions rule us. 

To Him be the glory!

    Whether or not this was what Goethe intended for this book, it is what I have chosen to take away from it—so that now more than ever, I can be reminded of God’s unending love and Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, so we need not be slaves to sin. 

____

What are your thoughts on Werther? Let me know what you think!

Namarië, 

Astrya    

The Sorrows of Young Werther | Part 1

 “I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

    If ever there was a single book that captured all the difficulties of young love—the sorrow, the joy, the utter despair—it is this one. In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe penned The Sorrows of Young Werther, an epistolary novel that tells of the devastating unrequited love of Werther, a young aristocrat who falls deeply and hopelessly in love with Lotte, a girl promised to another man. 

    This is the first time I’ve read this book—which is really a novella—and I have found it by turns both rapturous and yet ever sinking, down to the “depths of despair” (as Anne Shirley would say) as Werther realises more and more how hopeless his situation is. This post is the first in a series of two that I’ll be doing on this book. My intent is to go through and analyse the plot, the characters, and their motives—my intent, mind you. What might actually happen is me railing about Werther’s infatuation and Lotte’s edging him on and really how hopeless the whole affair is. But first, let’s get into a bit of context. 

    Werther was actually a sort of fictionalised autobiography of Goethe himself. Yes, that’s right—it was the author’s own lovesickness that prompted him to write this book. He was infatuated with Charlotte Buff (fine job he did disguising her name!), a sweet-tempered young woman engaged to marry a man eleven years her senior. When they eventually did marry, Goethe could stand it no longer and left. He wrote Werther in four weeks and became an overnight sensation. People loved his tale of tragic love doomed to fail! But they had no idea that it was based on his own life. Yet perhaps that was what made it—and still makes it—so appealing. 

The book may be appealing, but this picture certainly is not!

    More will come next week, with my thoughts on the (horrific!) ending and what all this romanticism really means in the context of Christianity. 

What are your thoughts on Werther’s absurd obsession? What should he do about it?

__

Namarië,

Astrya

Top Five Reads of January

 What-ho, fellow travellers! As January comes to a close (time really does fly) I thought I’d share my top five books of the month. These are in no particular order, by the way, (because I can’t decide!) 

I

Les Miserablés - Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience, when, owing to a case of mistaken identity, another man is arrested in his place; and by the relentless investigations of the dogged Inspector Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to poverty.

    This was a reread, but delightful as always. Granted, Victor Hugo does take some rather extensive rabbit-holes (I think he took a few tips from Herodotus) but the story itself is a beautiful one, of redemption and coming of age. 

II

The Father Christmas Letters - J.R.R. Tolkien

For more than twenty years, the children of J.R.R. Tolkien received letters from the North Pole - from Father Christmas himself! They told wonderful stories of mischief and disaster, adventures, and battles: how the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place, how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas's house, and many others.

    This was the most amazing thing. I received this for my birthday in November, and re-read it in January simply because I could! It doesn’t need to be Christmastime to enjoy Tolkien’s irreproachable wit and lovely characterization of Father Christmas. 

III

The Book of the City of Ladies - Christine de Pizan

Female writer Christine de Pizan's spirited defence of women against medieval misogyny and literary stereotypes is now recognized as one of the most important books in the history of feminism, and offers a telling insight into the role of women in a man's world.

    I read this book in school, but nonetheless found it quite poignant and should definitely be more widely known. The author approaches the subject of female repression from a Christian point of view, calling on her extensive education and knowledge of God to guide her. 

IV

The Dead - James Joyce

Often cited as the best work of short fiction ever written, Joyce's story details a New Year's Eve gathering in Dublin that is so evocative and beautiful that it prompts the protagonist's wife to make a shocking revelation to her husband—closing the story with an emotionally powerful epiphany that is considered one of the best in modern literature.

    Technically, this is not a book, but I felt I had to include it because it struck me as… well, unusual, for lack of a better word. It offered a snippet in the life of an Irish professor who was neither very handsome nor very interesting (outwardly, that is). But the writing draws you in and makes you feel as though you were really there. 

V

The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written. 

    Like Les Mis, I had read this before, but when scrounging for a project at school I came across it once more. It just proves Lewis’ genius—what more can I say? Go read it for yourself; you’ll see what I mean. :)

    And there you have it—my top five books of January! I hope the first month of 2024 went smoothly, and that the rest of the year be blessed and wonderful as well. God be with you! 

Namarië

——

All summaries from Goodreads