Abstract
The Sorrows of Young Werther, as an epistolary novel written by Goethe tells us a tragic story of Werther, a German young man who committed suicide after failing to seek his love. This paper aims to analyze Werther’s complicated characteristics with help of “Bildungsroman”, by further revealing the main causes of his death and exploring this novel’s autobiographical elements, with the conclusions that Werther’s death is doomed under such an environment. To a certain degree, his death symbolizes the author’s spiritual revival.
Key words: Bildungsroman,characteristics, tragedy, autobiographical elements
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Demonstration 2
2.1 The traditional definition of bildungsroman 2
2.1.1 Typical bildungsroman: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship 3
2.1.2 Bildungsroman in The Sorrows of Young Werther 3
2.2 Characteristics of Werther in view of bildungsroman 4
2.2.1 From gentleness to testiness 5
2.2.2 From enthusiasm to depression 6
2.3 Autobiographical elements 9
2.3.1 Similarities between Werther and Goethe 9
2.3.2 Goethe's ration verses Wertther's sensibility 9
2.4 Reflection 10
2.4.1 Reasons of Werther’s doomed death 10
2.4.2 Lessons we can draw from young Werther 11
3. Conclusion 12
Notes 14
Works Cited 15
Bibliography 16 ，英语论文范文，英语论文 |
