The Sorrows of Young Werther

The Sorrows of Young Werther Book Description Goethe, who is considered one of the greatest writers of world literature today with his universal fame, based his The Sorrows of Young Werther, which he wrote when he was only twenty-five years old, on the unhappy relationship he had recently had with a young woman named Charlotte. This fascinating epistolary novel, which presented the literary world with the "romantic hero" driven to suicide by the pain of unrequited love, attracted readers like a magnet with its poetry and passionate view of life. It is said that the novel, which influenced the youth of the period in Germany, caused many people to commit suicide, that the blue frock coat, yellow vest and boots worn by Werther became fashionable in those years, and that even Napoleon always carried the book with him. The Sorrows of Young Werther, consisting of letters written by Werther, an extremely sensitive and passionate young painter, to his imaginary friend Wilhelm, is a masterpiece of emotionalism that replaces rationalism in literature (From the Promotional Bulletin)