Thursday, April 30, 2009

Goethe and Religion


Earlier today I finished reading Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous book, Die Leiden des jungen Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther). The book, first published in 1774, tells the story of a young man, Werther, who falls deeply in love with a young woman, Charlotte. Charlotte, however, marries another man, Albert, and the sorrows of Werther are told through letters he writes to his friend, Wilhelm. The ending of the book is no surprise, for we learn right off the bat that Werther commits suicide because of his impossibly deep love for Charlotte.

So why do I want to talk about this book today? Well, I found a very interesting link between Werther and his religiousness. At the beginning of the book, Werther's outlook on life is rosy and sweet, and although he compares nature and heaven to each other, that's about as far as he goes with religion. Later on in the novel, however, Werther's christian upbringing begins to play a larger role as he nears his death. He's more concerned with going to heaven, and even talks about how his suicide will not prevent his going to heaven because it was more like a sacrifice (he had to kill himself so that he wouldn't sin and try to take Charlotte away from Albert). He even goes as far to say that his suicide is more like a murder, for Charlotte sends him the pistol with which he shoots himself. Nevertheless, Werther's suicide is viewed as a sin and no priest was present at his burial.

Anyway, I just found it interesting that Werther (a non-religious character) turned toward religion in the last few months of his life. It makes sense, though, for when one nears their own death, one inevitably thinks about the afterlife. I think this is a common theme among other written works, and even in everyday life. Goethe did an excellent job in making Werther a realistic character, and even though this book is by no means a religious one, its main character fits with the religious times.

It reminds me of a quote by Carl Jung (a Swiss psychiatrist), who said: "Among all my patients in the second half of life ... there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life." Like Werther, people turn to religion (or a type of outlook on life) when they near death...it's inevitable, I think, because we humans need that type of security.

Here's some more information about Carl Jung and The Sorrows of Young Werther:



And here's a link to an English translation of Die Leiden des jungen Werther:

4 comments:

  1. I like your connection between the book and religion. Like you said, the main character Werther becomes more religious late in life as he is dying. I think people who aren't too religious may turn to religion as a comfort or a crutch in bad times. It is something to believe and have hope in.

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  2. I agree with the idea that people turning to religion later in life makes sense. This reminded me of a question about Christianity. I was just wondering that according to the Christian faith, a murder who accepts Jesus into his heart on his death bed will be welcome into heaven because his sins will be forgiven while a person who has been a good person his entire life will not go to heaven because he does not believe that Jesus died for his sins?

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  3. Werther too.. you are really going through Goethe! One way to think about a book like this is the infusion of religious sentiments into secular situations. It is a great crossover example. And if I remember right in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship there is a great portrait of a pietist.. and again it is clear how religious conceptions are getting read into secular contexts..

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  4. “The Sorrows of Young Mike” recently published as a parody of “The Sorrows of Young Werther” by Goethe. I loved the aspects that were touched on in the updated version. John Zelazny, the writer of the parody, is in no way hiding from the original and makes this very clear. It is a marvelously done parody and takes on similar themes of class, religion and suicide. I love the way both books reflect on each other and think everyone interested in Werther should check out “The Sorrows of Young Mike.”

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