Unreturned Love and Existential Dread
Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" in 60 Seconds
Goethe’s masterpiece short novel starts with a young, upper middle-class man named Werther moving into a rural German town to relax for a while. He initially lived very innocently and enjoyed his vacation. Over time he meets a young woman, Charlotte, who is already engaged to another man, Albert. Werther begins to obsess over Charlotte. She does not love him back, because she is already with another man.
Werther tries to substitute his obsession with Charlotte by working for an ambassador. Inevitably, this doesn’t work out, because work cannot squelch his desires for Charlotte. Werther comes to terms that the power of his feelings and emotions are stronger than his reasoning. He also confronts the rules, social norms and order in society. Werther views such social norms as inauthentic.
The story concludes when Werther borrowed pistols from Albert and shot himself in the head to put himself out of misery. Suicide was Werther’s solution to existential dread and overwhelming obsession.