入圍
姓  名 廖崇倫 學  校 國立台中第一高級中學 年  級 一 年 二十三 班

 

 

The Sorrows of Young Werther

When I first read the book “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, I thought the story meaningless, because it was just about an incapable youth’s groaning. However, when I get older, I have different opinions about it. The book is not only a personal letter but actually a strong protest against the society after the Age of Enlightenment. It intensely criticizes the people who overestimate the so-called “sense” and “practicability”, but ignore true human’s feeling.

“The Sorrows of Young Werther” is a valuable literary work, which is written by the great German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1774.The book is a collection of the Werther’s letters to his friend, whose name is Wilhelm. Werther was a sensitive but idle young man, who enjoyed sketching and wandering, but hadn’t found his goal in life, yet. When he was visiting to a city named Wahlheim, he participated in a dancing party. There he first met Lotte, who is took care of her 8 brothers and sisters all by herself. Though Werther knew that Lotte was about to marry a man named Albert, he still could not help but in love with Lotte instantly. Hereafter, Werther and Lotte lived together for some times.

When Albert came back, Werther’s feelings started to change. Albert’s existence made Werther feel pessimistic of his love for Lotte. Although Albert was a compassionate, kind and mercyful person, the relationship between him and Werther was still tense. Werther couldn’t stand the embarrassing situation, so he decided to leave Wahlheim for Weimar to shun Lotte.He worked for an embassy in that city for a short time. But he couldn’t agree with the lifestyle of aristocracy and the upper class. He felt hopeless and went back to Wehlheim, Albert and Lotte had already got married. On Christmas Eve, Werther visited Lotte when Albert was not home ,and he just hugged and kissed Lotte. But finally, Lotte swore never meet Werther. Werther got totally depressed. After writing a farewell letter, he committed suicide.

Although Werther is an incapable person and couldn’t be accepted by the society in real life, he is brave enough to pursue his love and isn’t afraid of other people’s contempt and criticism. Just like Goethe, Werther is a romantic and he abandons high salary and high social status for love. Actually, we can find Goethe’s own experiences in the character of Werther; they are both full of passion, and they are both persistent in pursuing love and truth. Through Werther’s extreme behavior, Goethe expresses his disdain for pragmatism and challenges the traditional values.

In my opinion, committing suicide is never a good way to solve problems or sufferings. However, what we can learn from this book is the bravery Werther has to challenge any obstacle, or his fearlessness in the face of pressure from others. Some may argue that Werther is a man without goal and ambition. However, I think he does. Lotte is the only reason why he exists. And I was really touched by this kind of simple gallantry after rereading it.