Partly autobiographical, and the prototype for many later Romantic works in its depiction of the sensitive, tortured Romantic hero, Goethe's seminal classic is a timeless masterpiece of world literature Presented as a collection of confessional letters written by the eponymous protagonist, The Sorrows of Young Werthercharts the emotional journey of a young man whoduring a stay in a picturesque German villagefalls in love with Lotte, a sweet-natured local woman engaged to another man. As he realizes that his passion is doomed to failure and constant pain, Werther contemplates taking the most drastic measures. The first great "confessional" novel, it draws both on Goethe's own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff as well as on the death of a close friend.