the sorrows of young werther wolfgang von goethe

He questions the worth of living the ‘the contemptible ambitions of rank’ of the worthless nobility prizes the worth of Homer, Klopstock and Ossian ( although Werther reading Goethe’s translations of Ossian to Lotte really were an indulgence I could have done without!).

Werther ('wert' is German ‘worth’) is much concerned with worth.

Eventually he sees he must annihilate himself which he does with Albert’s pistols, taking twelve hours to die. From the start Werther knows she’s promised to the much older Albert whom she marries, but the very impossibility of ever winning her feeds his monster tear-filled passions and the outpouring of his exquisite suffering. The novel is made up of Werther’s letters to his long-suffering but silent friend Wilhelm detailing his doomed-from-the-outset passion for the essence-of-goodness Lotte who is looking after all her younger siblings in what Werther sees as the Arcadian bliss of the countryside. Especially as intelligently read as this is. It took Goethe just six weeks to write The Sorrows of Young Werther but its impact throughout Europe following its publication in 1774 – from blue frockcoat and yellow waistcoat outfits, to copycat displays of sublime displays of exaggerated sensibilities and the whole sturm und drang Romantic movement – was sensational enough for it to deserve another 21st century life as a download. This is from UKEMI AUDIOBOOKS which produces an expanding selection of important works of the past superbly read – a wonderful way of absorbing those important books and writers you’ve never had the time or space to read. Told through the protagonist's eyes, it is the gradual rise of Werther's strong feelings checked by attempts at restraint and complicated by a friendship with Lotte's husband that keeps the listener on edge - especially when read with sympathy, as here, by Leighton Pugh. Partially autobiographical, von Goethe, aged just 24, wrote it in just six weeks, and when it appeared in 1774 it immediately established his reputation. The Sorrows of Young Werther is the iconic love story which helped to usher in the Romantic age.

In a series of letters to his friend, Wilhelm, he charts the course of his love, which rises to passion and obsession and, ultimately, tragedy. But his romantic tendency rules otherwise, and he falls in love with Charlotte - Lotte - even though he knows she is affianced to another. It is a young spring, and he hopes that arcadian solitude will prove a genial balm to his mind. Werther, a sensitive young artist, finds himself in Wahlheim, a quiet, attractive village in Germany where he seeks solace from the turmoils of love.

The sorrows of young werther wolfgang von goethe