“The Sorrows of Young Werther” is a story of Werther who falls in love and it destroys him. How
ever, Werther is not innocent in any sense. The story is limited to the letter Werther writes but if the reader pays attention it is easy to see how mentally unwell Werther truly is. His hyper-fascination with Charlotte and pushing friendship onto her and her husband Albert which not only harms them but also harms Werther. The constant strain of seeing Charlotte with another man pushes Werther into becoming even more desperate for Charlotte.
This internal struggle is what continues to drive the story forward. The format of the letters makes this story feel very personal as if as the reader Werther is writing to us. With never knowing the other opinion of Werther’s friend Wilhelm, it always the reader to form their own “response letter” to Werther. I can only imagine how many times Wilhelm said in his letters for Werther to “calm down” and to “let go” of his feelings for Charlotte. Werther’s actions ultimately become detrimental to his mental health.
It is interesting to think about how much love can affect someone so much they take their own life. This story was so popular during its time that other men began taking their lives in sake of love, but was it really love? What I would describe as Werther’s love, would be obsession and denial. Werther constantly forced his feelings onto Charlotte after trying to hide it under the guise of friendship continued to affect him up until his death. Since the story is only described through Werther’s letters, many things get left out. However, it was an entire different experience to read. Many first person stories share at least some detail of the other characters and their lives, we lack this knowledge. However, this is what makes the story interesting. Even though it was old English and there was a lot of drama, this story was quite interesting.