Sorrows of a Young Werther, by Johann Wolgang von Goethe

The relationship between a mother and son is vital to the emotional growth of a child. Insufficient ties between the two may result in a multitude of emotional complications ranging from behavioral problems to attachment issues. In Sorrows of a Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the relationship between the main character, Werther, and his mother is strained at best. The instability of their relationship prompts Werther to look outside his family for the emotional, fulfilling bonds he desires. Lotte, along with her siblings, provides Werther with a picture of the idyllic family he has dreamed of having, but, at the end of the novel, Werther is forced to learn that the ideal can never be attained.

Werther’s mother is scarcely mentioned throughout the novel. In fact, we never discover her name nor anything exceedingly substantial about her. At no point does Werther directly contact his mother; instead, he relies on Walheim to pass on any information he deems necessary for her to know. He is not remotely interested in what is going on in his mother’s life, nor does he care to provide many details pertaining to what is occurring in his own. In the majority of the sections his mother is mentioned, Werther merely sounds bitter and resentful. While this may seem to indicate that she is a character insignificant to the story, her very absence from the novel makes her a critical instrument in understanding Werther's actions.

The first mention of Werther’s mother references a situation pertaining to a disagreement his mother has with his aunt. He has obviously been taking care of this issue for her, but he does not write the news of the situation to her directly, going through Walheim as usual instead. “"Be kind enough to ...

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...he needs, he has no choice but to kill himself.

Werther’s relationship with his mother discreetly influences many of the crucial events in The Sorrows of Young Werther. If Werther had a strong relationship with his mother, the outcome of the book might have changed quite drastically. As he failed to keep a strong relationship with her, he had to fill her role in his life elsewhere. Lotte provided the perfect example of a mother for him to connect with, but it is eventually apparent that his idealized view of her fails to connect with the real Lotte. The novel proves how tempestuous emotional bonds can be and how imperfect relationships between a mother and son can lead to unfortunate results.

Works Cited

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Ed. Nathan Haskell Doyle. Trans. R. D. Boylan. Project Gutenberg, 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.