Goethe IV, "The Suffering of the Young Werther": a summary of the chapters

The novel "The Suffering of a Young Werther" (briefly presented below) is the most famous, after "Faust", by the work of a German 18th-century writer IV Goethe. It's about this dramatic narrative, based on real events, that we'll talk about in this article.

About the work

The novel was written in 1774. The story was based on the story that Goethe himself witnessed. In 1772, the writer was in Wenceslas, a small town. Here in the office of the imperial court, he was practicing law. Fate brought him with a certain Kestner, who served as secretary of the Hanoverian Embassy. Goethe spent several months in the city and left at the end of the summer. After some time, the writer received a letter from his friend. Kestner reported that their mutual friend, Jerusalim, a young official, had committed suicide. The reason for this was unhappy love, feelings of despair and humiliation, as well as dissatisfaction with their position in society.

Goethe decided that this case can be imagined as a tragedy to the modern generation. It was then that the writer had the idea of writing a novel.

Genre peculiarity and structure

Turned to the then popular genre of the novel in Goethe's poems. "Suffering of the young Werther" (a brief summary will confirm this) - a sentimental novel. And such works very often had one structure - they were composed of numerous pisem main characters. Our work has not become an exception.

The novel consists of two parts, each of which, in turn, is composed of the letters of Werther himself and the publisher, who publishes a novel, the messages of which are addressed to the reader. The letters of the main character are addressed to his faithful friend Wilhelm. Werther describes in them not only the events taking place in his life, but also his experiences and feelings.

"The Sorrows of a Young Werther": a summary

The main character is a young man named Werther, he is inclined to poetry and painting. A young man settles in a small town, wishing to be alone. Here he communicates with ordinary people, enjoys nature, draws and reads Homer.

Werther is invited to a youth country ball where he meets a certain Charlotte S., who immediately falls in love. The close call the girl Lotta, she is the eldest daughter of the amtman (district chief) of the principality. The mother in their family died early, so Charlotte replaced her for her younger brothers and sisters. The girl was not only beautiful, but also smart.

Love

It was from this moment that the most terrible suffering of the young Werther begins. The summary tells about the birth of his love. The young man spends his free time in the house of Lotta, which is located outside the city. He goes with his beloved to visit the sick pastor, cares for the sick lady. Werther enjoys these visits, since he can be together Lotto.

However, the young man's love is doomed to suffering because Charlotte already has a fiancé, Albert, who went to get a job.

Return of Albert

The novel "The Sufferings of a Young Werther" is written in the sentimental direction, the brief content of which we are considering, so the hero of the work is very emotional, he is not able to restrain his feelings and impulses, he is forbidden to rationality in his actions. That's why Werther captures an unbearable feeling of jealousy when Albert returns. The young man shows his restless disposition: he falls into unrestrained gaiety, then the clouds grow darker. Albert is friendly to Werther and tries not to attach importance to such differences.

Birthday

We continue to describe the summary of "The Suffering of a Young Werther". It is Werther's birthday. Albert gives him a mysterious bundle. There is a bow from the dress of Charlotte, in which the young man saw her for the first time. Werther suffers and comes to the idea that it is better for him to leave, but the moment of departure is being postponed all the time.

A young man does not tell anyone about his decision. On the eve of his departure he goes to Charlotte. The girl starts talking about death, remembers her mother and the minutes when they saw each other for the last time. Werther is excited by the story of the girl, but still remains firm in her intention to leave.

In a new place

Serious changes are taking place for the protagonist of the novel "The Suffering of a Young Werther" (Goethe Johann is the author of the work). He is leaving for another city. Here he enters the service of the messenger, who is distinguished by pedantry, meticulousness and stupidity. The only friend of Werther in the new place is Count von K., who brightens the youth's loneliness. It turns out that in this city there are very strong prejudices associated with the estate of man. Therefore, Werther always has to hear unpleasant statements about his origins.

The young man gets acquainted with the girl B., which is something like Charlotte. With this girl, Werther often talks about his past life, even tells about Lott. The society constantly annoys the youth, and the relationship with the envoy worsens. As a result, the chief writes a complaint against Werther to the minister. He responds by sending a letter to the young man, asking him to be less touchy, to leave crazy ideals and channel his energy into the right direction.

Return

The novel "The Suffering of the Young Werther" (Goethe) continues. And the summary tells about why the protagonist had to leave his new place of residence, despite the fact that he managed to reconcile with his position.

Werther was visiting his friend Count von K and accidentally stayed. At this time, the count began to gather guests. According to city etiquette, among noble society there should not be a person of low birth. Werther completely forgot about this rule and stayed with the count. In addition, he noticed B., with which he immediately spoke. However, gradually the young man realized that the public casts a glance at him, and his companion has to make more efforts to maintain the conversation. Realizing this, Werther quickly leaves.

However, the next day, the city was flooded with rumors that Werther was expelled by Count von K. Young himself, realizing that this story would end for him dismissal, he decided to resign himself and then leave.

The first thing Werther goes to where he spent his childhood. Here he is given sweet memories. At this time, an invitation comes from the prince, and our hero goes to his domain, where he soon leaves, unable to endure the separation from his beloved one.

Charlotte lives in the city. For the time that there was no Werther, she managed to marry Albert. Now she is happy in marriage. However, the arrival of an old friend brings discord into the family. Lotta sees Werther's love and sympathizes with him, but it's hard for her to watch his sufferings. The young man himself is constantly in a dream, he longed to fall asleep forever, so as not to leave the world of dreams and not return to the tormenting reality.

Lotta

Creates images of very vulnerable and impressionable people Goethe IV ("The Suffering of a Young Werther") - a brief account of Heinrich's history confirms this. One day, Werther meets around the city a local crazy Henry, who collects for his beloved poems. Soon it turns out that this is none other than the former scribe of the father of Charlotte, who fell in love with the girl and went mad with unrequited passion.

Werther begins to understand that Charlotte's image pursues him and tortures him. On this recognition, the letters of Werther himself break off. Continues to describe the events now the publisher.

A young man becomes unbearable to others because of his passion. Gradually the young man becomes stronger in the thought that the only salvation for him is to leave this world. On the eve of Christmas Lotta asks a friend to come to them no earlier than the Christmas Eve. However, Werther is the next day. The girl takes it, they read together. At some point, the young man loses control and approaches Charlotte, who immediately asks him to leave their house.

Decoupling

The novel "The Suffering of a Young Werther" is coming to an end. The summary of the chapters describes the final episode of the work. Werther returns home, writes a letter to Lotte and sends a servant to Albert for pistols. At midnight, a shot is heard in the young man's room. The next morning the servant finds out a living Werther and calls the doctor, but it's too late. Albert and Charlotte have hard transferred the message of the death of a friend. They bury him outside the city in the place where Werther wanted to be buried.