Discuss the relationship between individual and society in Goethe’s The Sufferings of Young Werther. What features of Werther’s individuality make him incapable of taking up a “normal” position within society?
It is accurate to suggest that an interdependent relationship exists between the individual and society. It is also accurate to state that in order for both the individual and society to flourish, the two entities must complement one another in values, beliefs and needs. It may be perceived that through carefully constructed characterisation throughout his eighteenth century novel ‘The Sufferings of Young Werther’, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe holistically depicts the way in which the relationship between society and the individual can shape the individual, how the individual, having been rejected from society, can become a body of self destruction and the way in which relationships throughout society can be shaped in response to conflicting perspectives of the individual and society as a whole.
Due to the interdependent relationship between the individual and society, societal values can greatly influence the individual. It can be said that Goethe’s characterisation of Lotte and Werther clearly depict this notion in varying outcomes. Lotte is depicted as a compassionate and loyal character whose relationship with Werther depicts her as somewhat naive. Despite having convinced herself for the majority of the novel that her feelings for Werther are due to a brother-like connection, Lotte acknowledges her individual desires of wanting to, “keep [Werther] for herself.” (82) Throughout the novel, the heart and soul are symbolic of passionate love. With, “her heart squeezed tight, and a dark cloud [hanging] over her eyes,” Lotte ...
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... but comes back and everything is diseased/dying, recurring plot reflective of his addictive attitude
Re: ants -> see as destruction of society
• Re: Prince about creativity? Perhaps.
Re: death scene
• Horse (free from self)
• The drawn out death sequence (punishment for turning back on society perhaps)
• Imperfection... world order... pg 138
Loses self in romantic dreams - Goethe pg 129 re: intertextuality, becomes Ossian o Madman
Loved Lotte
Suggesting that freedom from society equates to happiness, but has completely lost self because they’re crazy, really. o The murder
Obsessive over lover
If I can’t have her no one can, reflective of Werther’s idea of Lotte
Both seem to see their actions (murder and suicide) as tribute of their love
• Lotte touched the gun, ergo sanctioned the suicide o Could go into religious blood sacrifice if time allows
...de. Those who face their weaknesses and accept themselves are successful in the manner that they obtain complete control of their lives instead of letting society influence their decisions. Rebelliousness of this force results in complications and dissatisfaction of those who uphold its values. A choice must be made whether to walk in that straight line of society or branch out to the new world.
In The Human Condition, by Hannah Arendt, the fundamental qualities of human behavior are described and analyzed. These qualities are first described by discussing the different entities present in the lives of Athenian Greeks. This partition of human life into separate units is supposed to be applied to modern American society as well, however, the structure of today's social order differs from that of ancient Greek. These disparities cause the analysis and ideas projected on the human condition to be contrasting as well.
...el, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson accentuates the fact that society’s expectations of a character causes negative impacts upon their lives through the creation of a struggle to achieve his goal. Ian is an impeccable example of this because he is prone to adolescent tendencies due to youth. Ian struggles to achieve his goals due to the following expectations: to leave Struan, for a superior opportunity to become successful; to strive for a medical career, since he excels at the trade already; and to … Society is too abrupt in its assumptions of an individual, these assumptions often catch one unprepared, spreading chaos and confusion through one’s mind. It would be substantially more beneficial if society did not place expectations at all.
Anyone who reads The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe instantly feels the emotional intensity portrayed by Werther, the protagonist. His speculations about life are indeed unique, especially in modern times when life often goes by quickly without notice. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why his immense emotion strikes a chord with readers as coming from someone crazy or dangerous. Werther’s mental state seems incredibly alive at some times while seemingly lifeless at others. This lifeless state of mind is similar to another sorrowful character in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. In his story of Billy Pilgrim, a similar wonder engulfs the reader, causing us to question the cause of both his mindset and of our own. These books bring a couple of interesting questions to mind… How much emotion is too much? How little is too little? These characters struggle with powerful emotion in many ways, and are therefore judged as mad. The two protagonists engage in totally different journeys, but each of them leads the reader to discover the limits of human emotion. These limits are reached by Werther and Billy, therefore leading to both characters’ demise.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe began writing The Sorrows of Young Werther in the early part of 1774. It was written during the Sturm and Drang period in Germany. Sturm and Drang, or more conventionally known as Storm and Stress, was an attempt by people in this period to free themselves from the strict rationalism of the enlightenment period. It is about a young man, Werther, who finds himself in an impossible situation. He is in love with a young woman named Charlotte. Despite knowing that Charlotte is already engaged to another man, Werther continues to ...
In all the spheres of absolute spirit, the spirit liberates itself from the cramping barriers of its existence in externality, by opening for itself a way out of the contingent affairs of its worldly existence, and the finite content of its aims and interests there, into the consideration and completion of its being in and for itself” (Hegel: 94) In the nineteenth century, in his Essays on Art and Literature, Goethe is the one who uses the very term Weltliteratur, the German translation of 'universal literature'. Enlarging on the cosmopolitan nature of literature, Goethe makes a memorable statement, that admirably grasps the immutable relation between a specific national literature and universal literature: “I shall merely acquaint my friends with my conviction that there is being formed a universal world-literature, in which a honourable role is reserved for us,
Society is a concept found in all aspects of life; it is a slant which is impossible to avoid. For instance; sadly in life society labels things or people as good or bad, poor or rich, ugly or pretty. The literary piece of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley clearly reflects this act of society in which they classify all things. The novel reflects how society labels everything; by being judgmental from the way the family is seen, how people view Frankenstein as a monster, and how the monster is affected, his conduct gets altered by all of society judgmental actions.
‘Society makes and remakes people, but society is also made and remade by the multiple connections and disconnections between people, and between people, places and things’ (Havard, 2014, p.67).
In the three chosen works of literature, Ordinary people by Judith Guest, Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Antigone by Sophocles, alienation, initiation, journey, suffering and reconciliation are among the themes covered by the these great works of literature. The writers through the various characters in the scripts have clearly brought out the five themes as the main themes. These works of literature act as a reflection of what was happening in the society then. In terms of literature not much has changed and would still expect the same to be happening in the society today. As acknowledged, literature indeed reflects the society, its ill values and good values. In mirroring of the ills of the society, the view is to make the society realize its mistakes and make amends. The good values are set out for others to emulate. As an imitation of human actions, literature presents an image of what people do, think and do in the society.
In conclusion, The Sorrows of Werther opened the creatures eyes to the immediate world around him and the pains associated with life especially when one is rejected by the people they love.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Trans. Elizabeth Mayer and Louis Bogan. 1774; New York: Random House, 1970.
...l experienced a human condition as a result of their respective tragedies. Each individual diverted their emotions towards various elements in their efforts to comply with societal demands. As a result of fear, lack of confidence and suppression of society each individual reacted to their personal societal challenges through the human condition of disengagement from their respective societies.
Romanticism was deeply interested in creating art and literature of suffering, pain and self-pity. With poets pining for a love long gone and dead and authors falling for unavailable people, it appears that romantics in literature were primarily concerned with self-injury and delusion. In Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther", we find another romantic character fulfilling his tragic destiny by falling victim to extreme self-deception.
The oldest social law of responsibility to oneself has made a comeback in modern times with a twist. Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated, “The oldest of all societies, and the only natural one, is that of the family; yet children remain tied to their father by nature only so long as they need him for their preservation.” (Rousseau). As of now that twist to be explained has expanded into a preservation bubble more so for the individual than one’s own family. The twist is not a new concept, but it is “Gesellschaft” that becomes the dominant cancer that erodes the very ideal of community.
In general, individual cannot be built without the continuous outpouring him or her into the society for understanding his or her position and identity. It is impossible that an infant is able to figure out he or she is a human being before he or she has the conception about “human being.” A man cannot know whether he is smart or not without comparison with other men. Therefore, all information about an individual must be obtained from other individuals in one society. The biological process of being a social individual is the time when the individual interacts with an outside social environment in both physical and emotional ways. The reason why an individual has to touch and output outside environment is the incompleteness of society. That is, there is no society which does not base on human beings because society is not a biologically extraneous phenomenon, and the society must be shaped by activities of every individual. With the continual establishment of the relationship between every individuals and social world, the existence of society become real. In short, the broader social world is the product of the activities of human