<i>The Sorrows of Young Werther</i>

The Sorrows of Young Werther

<p><i><b>The Sorrows of Young Werther</b></i> (<small about="#mwt19" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw="{&quot;parts&quot;:[{&quot;template&quot;:{&quot;target&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;IPA-de&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;./Template:IPA-de&quot;},&quot;params&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;ˈveːɐ̯tɐ&quot;},&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}},&quot;i&quot;:0}}]}"></small><span class="IPA"><a href="/en/Help:IPA/Standard_German" title="Help:IPA/Standard German" class="wl">[ˈveːɐ̯tɐ]</a></span>; <a href="/en/German_language" title="German language" class="wl">German</a><span>: </span><i lang="de"><b>Die Leiden des jungen Werthers</b></i>) is a 1774 <a href="/en/Epistolary_novel" title="Epistolary novel" class="wl">epistolary novel</a> by <a href="/en/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe" title="Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" class="wl">Johann Wolfgang Goethe</a>, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the <i><a href="/en/Sturm_und_Drang" title="Sturm und Drang" class="wl">Sturm und Drang</a></i> period in <a href="/en/German_literature" title="German literature" class="wl">German literature</a>, and influenced the later <a href="/en/Romanticism" title="Romanticism" class="wl">Romantic</a> movement. Goethe, aged 24 at the time, finished <i>Werther</i> in five and a half weeks of intensive writing in January to March 1774.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Wellbery_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-Wellbery-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> It instantly placed him among the foremost international literary celebrities and was among the best known of his works.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Appelbaum_1-2"><a href="#cite_note-Appelbaum-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Wellbery_2-1"><a href="#cite_note-Wellbery-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">1774 novel by Goethe</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Author, Original&nbsp;title, Country, Languag...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">The Sorrows of Young Werther </caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Goethe_1774.JPG" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Goethe_1774.JPG"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Goethe_1774.JPG/220px-Goethe_1774.JPG" decoding="async" data-file-width="2948" data-file-height="2332" data-file-type="bitmap" height="174" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Goethe_1774.JPG/330px-Goethe_1774.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Goethe_1774.JPG/440px-Goethe_1774.JPG 2x" alt="Goethe_1774.JPG"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">First print 1774</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe" title="Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" class="wl">Johann Wolfgang Goethe</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Original<span>&nbsp;</span>title</th><td class="infobox-data"><span><i lang="de">Die Leiden des jungen Werthers</i></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Country</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Holy_Roman_Empire" title="Holy Roman Empire" class="wl">Holy Roman Empire</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">German</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Epistolary_novel" title="Epistolary novel" class="wl">Epistolary novel</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data">Weygand'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">29 September <a href="/en/1774_in_literature" title="1774 in literature" class="wl">1774</a>, revised ed. <a href="/en/1787_in_literature" title="1787 in literature" class="wl">1787</a><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Appelbaum_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-Appelbaum-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Published<span>&nbsp;</span>in English</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1779<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Appelbaum_1-1"><a href="#cite_note-Appelbaum-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/en/Dewey_Decimal_Classification" title="Dewey Decimal Classification" class="wl">Dewey Decimal</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data">833.6</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/LCC_(identifier)" title="LCC (identifier)" class="mw-redirect wl"><abbr about="#mwt15" typeof="mw:ExpandedAttrs" data-mw="{&quot;attribs&quot;:[[{&quot;txt&quot;:&quot;title&quot;},{&quot;html&quot;:&quot;<span typeof=\&quot;mw:Nowiki\&quot; data-parsoid=\&quot;{}\&quot;>Library of Congress Classification</span>&quot;}]]}">LC<span>&nbsp;</span>Class</abbr></a></th><td class="infobox-data">PT2027.W3</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Text</th><td class="infobox-data"><i><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The%20Works%20of%20J.%20W.%20von%20Goethe/Volume%206/The%20Sorrows%20of%20Young%20Werther" title="s:The Works of J. W. von Goethe/Volume 6/The Sorrows of Young Werther" class="extiw" target="_blank">The Sorrows of Young Werther</a></i> at <a href="/en/Wikisource" title="Wikisource" class="wl">Wikisource</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>


The Sorrows of Young Werther is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the Sturm und Drang period in German literature, and influenced the later Romantic movement. Goethe, aged 24 at the time, finished Werther in five and a half weeks of intensive writing in January to March 1774. 