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Goethe's Rebellion Through Werther Analysis

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Goethe’s Rebellion Through Werther: An analysis on the works of Goethe indicates his rebellion against the Age of Enlightenment, and through the character of Werther and the surrounding cast uses the story as a cautionary tale of philosophical arguments posed in open disagreement during the Romantic Movement.
Following the Age of Enlightenment and the introduction of the Industrial Revolution, the societal ramifications that not only occurred throughout Europe also bled into a number of intellectual aspects which evolved after Enlightenment thought - leading to the intellectual movement of Romanticism. As a rebellion against the radical rise of rationalism being applied to the world, while the new approaches to investigation, reasoning …show more content…

“A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet spring mornings which I enjoy with all my heart. [...] When I hear the humming of the little world among the stalks, and am near the countless indescribable forms of worms and insects, then I feel the presence of the Almighty Who created us.” (Goethe & Hulse, 2016) From this extract the author through the eyes of Werther describes nature as a enlightening and emotional experience that grants a primal enjoyment, being quick in expanding on its spiritual influences that fit into the Romantics focus on the spirit that they considered to be an inherently human phenomenon being forgotten at the time. The concepts of the human soul and the introduction of the Christian God better illuminating how such a scene in the context of Werther leaving the ‘modern & industrial’ city to be in the countryside generates the distinction of spiritual fulfillment, as the possession of his soul and acknowledgement of life present in nature provides depth to an emotional deficiency implied in the earlier addressing to his colleague after moving to the

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Nature is often personified in this piece, for example, “She has a voice of gladness, and a smile and eloquence of beauty” (Bryant lines 4-5). Nature, something that can not be man made, is portrayed as alluring and joyful. Bryant connects the aforementioned with death by realizing that death is apart of life, when “Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim thy growth, to be resolv’d to earth again” (lines 22-23). This means the earth provided for a person during their life and returns them to the earth during their death. Bryant answers the question “what if thou shalt fall unnoticed by the living-- and no friend take note of thy departure?”

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The Intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment occupies an important position in the growth of Western civilization. How it totally affected society, especially French society is a subject of debate, from the beginning of the Revolution to today. In fact, two schools of interpretation are involved. The first school is the conservative school, Edmund Burke is the best example.

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Enlightenment was a time of embracing logic and reasoning whilst rejecting untested beliefs and superstition. This time period occurred from the year 1694 until 1795. During this time writers used their medium of the written word to express their beliefs based on logic while denouncing old-world ideologies . During Enlightenment human nature was often put under scrutiny as thinkers strived to find what qualities resulted in the best possible human. In this piece of writing, the reader will be able to see the opinions of human nature held by three great thinkers from this time period: Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe.

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He believes that because humanity has absorbed so many materialistic ideals that the connection between nature and oneself feels absent. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” instead begins with the discovery of a field of golden daffodils, “fluttering

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He forgets all his inevitable and depressing and sorrowful conditions in the delightful company of nature. It also developed man’s sense of beauty. It fills man’s heart with heavenly pleasure with he can’t get anywhere under the sun. In the presence of nature a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Every bit of alternation in the atmosphere in nature gives man happiness.

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