Published in 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther made Johann Wolfgang von Goethe famous across Europe almost overnight. Written as a series of letters, the novel follows the young artist Werther as he falls into a consuming, hopeless passion for Lotte, who is engaged to another man. Goethe’s intense focus on subjective emotion and the suffering individual became a founding document of the Romantic movement.
This text is available in English translation from the original German. The novel’s influence on European literature, music, and culture was immense and immediate. Download this free EPUB from Better Gutenberg to read the work that set the Romantic era in motion.