4 h 46 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the person who brings you joy is someone you cannot have?
In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, a gifted young man finds peace in the countryside. Writing to his friend Wilhelm, Werther shares his love of drawing, Homer, and the world around him. Then a country ball brings him to Lotte, a lively, caring woman already promised to another man.
Lotte's fiancé, Albert, is steady, fair-minded, and courteous to Werther. That makes this more than a simple rivalry. As Werther's feelings take over his life, his letters draw you into a world seen almost entirely through his eyes. Wilhelm offers sensible advice from a distance, but Werther often turns away from it.
What you’ll discover
- A voice close beside you Werther's letters bring you close to his joy, longing, and growing despair.
- Love beyond reach Meet Lotte, whose kindness and lively spirit draw Werther toward an impossible love.
- More than a rival Albert's courtesy gives the conflict a painful shape, with no easy enemy to blame.
- A changing countryside Watch the happiness of spring give way as Werther's feelings take over his life.
- Feeling against reason Explore the strain between Werther's strong emotions and Albert's trust in reason and duty.
Who will love it
For readers who love intense feeling, nature writing and the voice of a restless young artist, and for anyone drawn to love stories told through letters and confession.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Werther finds peace in a spring village
- A country dance brings him to Charlotte
- He builds his days around her family
- Albert arrives and Werther cannot leave
- Work and rank wear him down
- Wandering leads him back to Walheim
- What the story is really about
Who’s who
- WertherA young, sensitive artist who writes the letters, loves nature and Homer, and gives his whole heart to everything he meets.
- CharlotteA warm, practical young woman who cares for her many younger brothers and sisters and brings calm wherever she goes.
- AlbertCharlotte's steady, precise fiancé and later husband, a man of business who trusts reason more than passion.
- WilhelmWerther's friend and the person who receives the letters, who urges him toward work and a steady life.
- The district judgeCharlotte's father, a kind widower who lives in a hunting lodge with his many children and welcomes Werther as a son.
- Count CA clear-minded nobleman who treats Werther with real respect and shows him what an intelligent friend can be.
- Miss BA gentle young woman at the ambassador's town who keeps a natural manner amid stiff society and befriends Werther.
Formats and delivery
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 4 h 46 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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I dolori del giovane Werther
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1774
A young man meets a woman already promised to another man.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What happens when a young man with a restless heart steps into a quiet spring village and meets the one person who matches him? The Sorrows of Young Werther is a novel in letters by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Werther finds peace in a spring village
The novel opens with letters from Werther to his friend Wilhelm. He has left town to settle a family matter for his mother and to escape a painful tangle with a young woman named Leonora. He promises himself to enjoy the present and let the past rest.
The countryside soothes him. He lies in tall grass by a stream, sits at a stone fountain where village girls fetch water, and reads Homer instead of the books Wilhelm offers to send. He settles in a hamlet he calls Walheim, where he sketches two small brothers and chats with peasants and children. From this he decides that nature, not rules, should guide an artist, and he compares rules to embankments built to hold back a river.
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What is The Sorrows of Young Werther about?
It follows a sensitive young artist who leaves town for a village, falls in love with a woman engaged to another man, and tells his friend about it in letters. The book follows his joys, his struggles with society and his deepening feeling.
Why is The Sorrows of Young Werther written as letters?
The letters let Goethe place you inside Werther's mind, so you see events through his hopes and moods. Nearly all of them go to his friend Wilhelm, and an editor steps in near the end to fill gaps.
Who is Charlotte in The Sorrows of Young Werther?
Charlotte is the district judge's eldest daughter, who cares for her younger brothers and sisters after her mother's death. She is kind, lively and promised to Albert, and Werther falls in love with her at a country dance.
The author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749–1832 · German poet and novelist
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was Germany's towering man of letters — poet, novelist, playwright, and scientist. The Sorrows of Young Werther, the novel that made him famous across Europe in his mid-twenties, helped ignite the Romantic movement.
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