The Suffering of Young Werther

Goethe drew inspiration for the novel that established his worldwide fame from his time as a court intern. In addition to his own love affair, the suicide of a colleague served as a theme for the author. The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) is a combination of an epistolary novel and a diary novel, in which the writer brilliantly combines the rich inner world of the main character, the depiction of his mental states, and the authenticity that the notes and the report of Werther's death lend to the entire text.