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October 20–September 4

BOOK II

Summary: October 20–January 20

Werther relocates from the country to the court when he takes the position as an attaché to the ambassador, an elderly career bureaucrat who nitpicks Werther’s work and complains about his personality. Meeting people in the course of his diplomatic duties to the count gives Werther an objective appreciation of his own abilities, and he enjoys the intellectual competition to make meaningful contributions. Count C— takes an interest in Werther, who in turn esteems the count. Their affable working relationship irks the ambassador, who denigrates the count as lacking a formal higher education. However, Werther defends the count as a self-made man with innate intelligence that he uses to good advantage to get things done. Werther rails against the emphasis on class rank among the people who surround the count and criticizes their constant social climbing as a petty waste of time. He believes the measure of people’s worth should be their own success. Werther begins seeing Miss B—, who resides with her aunt, a widow; both are of noble lineage. In a January 20 letter to Charlotte, Werther says that Miss B— knows Charlotte, and they talk of her often. He asks if Albert and she are married.

Summary: February 8–February 20

Winter weather turns dreary with icy conditions. Werther increasingly loses patience with the people he associates with. He criticizes the ambassador, who registers a complaint against Werther at court, and Werther is reprimanded. Werther contemplates resigning until the count sends him a supportive letter commending his work ethic while suggesting he tone down his impulsiveness. On February 20, Werther replies to a letter from Albert with news that he and Charlotte have married. He explains that he still feels a part of their lives and ends the letter expressing his longing that Charlotte will not forget him.

Summary: March 15

Werther’s disregard of class rank inadvertently creates a scandal in the court. Werther dines at the count’s home on a day the nobles are set to assemble there in the evening. As Werther and the count adjourn from dinner to the reception hall, they continue to converse with Colonel B—. Werther is oblivious to the soirée about to start, to which he is neither invited nor welcome because of his lower-class status. Nobles begin to arrive, showing irritation at his presence. Werther attributes the nobles’ behavior to their typical snobbery but delays his departure to say a formal goodbye to his host, the count. 

At this point, the count’s friend Miss B— arrives, and Werther happily begins to make conversation with her. Werther feels puzzled when she rebuffs him, but rather than taking the hint, he stays in hopes that she will recover her good graces. Werther observes the arrival of the nobles Baron F— and Chancellor N—, but still he lingers, making conversation among his acquaintances. A tide of whispered outrage spreads among the guests, and Madame S— addresses their complaint to the count. The count takes Werther aside, ruefully reminds him of the social norms, and asks him to leave. Werther apologizes for his inattention to protocol and makes a humorous remark to cover the awkward moment. He hastens back to his lodging, where a friend tells him that news of Werther being thrown out of the assembly by the count is all over the town.

Summary: March 16–May 5

Werther finds himself ostracized over the previous night’s indiscretion. He encounters Miss B— on a walk, and she berates him for his impertinence that tarnished her reputation. She recounts her aunt’s disapproval and predicts the persecution that those seeking to put him in his place will be meting out, making the point that they will see such punishment as poetic justice for the supercilious attitude he exhibits. Werther wishes one of these detractors would confront him directly so he could vent his fury. 

In a state of agitation, Werther thinks of murdering someone or committing suicide. In his letter dated March 24, Werther relates to Wilhelm that he has tendered his resignation without consulting him, since he knows Wilhelm and his family will urge him to stay on the career path they arranged. On April 19, Werther writes that the court accepted his resignation and that he’s relieved his mother didn't intervene on his behalf. Werther adds that as one of the crown princes invited him to stay the spring with him and gave him a stipend, he no longer needs the money he requested his mother to send. Werther tells Wilhelm he will keep him informed of his career plans.

Summary: May 9–July 18

On his way to stay with the prince, Werther stops at the place where he was born. He compares his former hopes and dreams with his current situation and concludes that he has only disappointments and failure to show for his life. Werther joins the prince’s court at his hunting lodge, and in his May 25 letter he reveals to Wilhelm his true motivation: Werther wants the crown prince—a general—to help him get a prestigious appointment in the army. The prince does not approve, however, and convinces Werther to abandon the plan. Werther’s drawings continue to improve. He becomes tired of the prince’s stodgy thinking and grows restless without intellectual stimulation. In his July 18 letter, he tells Wilhelm that he only finds interest in the thought of being near Charlotte again.

Summary: July 29–September 4

Werther, having returned to Walheim, reconnects with the mother whose sons he had sketched the previous year. When he learns that the baby died, he becomes speechless with sorrow and can only interact with one of her children, giving him a gift. Revisiting the places he associates with Charlotte, Werther feels like a ghost returning to find its beautiful home in ruins. He fantasizes about being Charlotte’s husband, convinced he is her true soulmate, angry that Charlotte dares to love another. In his September 4 letter, Werther compares himself to a tree undergoing the change of seasons, its leaves yellowing and dropping. He encounters the young peasant man whose love and devotion for the woman he served was such an inspiration the previous year. The young man tells Werther that he met his ruin after his passion overcame his respect and he forced himself upon her. In the resulting scandal, the young man lost his position and the woman. Werther sympathizes with the man, seeing parallels in his own relationship with Charlotte.

Analysis: October 20–September 4

Werther’s friendship with Count C— makes what could have been an unbearable withdrawal from Charlotte a relatively calm time for Werther, at least initially. Just as Werther’s unlikely friendship with Albert makes Albert’s return to Walheim delightful rather than catastrophic for Werther, his working relationship with Count C— distracts Werther from ruminating on his romantic longings and allows him to focus on more rational ideas. Like Albert, Count C— is confident enough in his own station that he does not view Werther as a rival, and this permits the two of them to appreciate one another for who they are intellectually and bestow favors upon one another with no greater goal than to enhance their sound friendship.

Werther’s talent for observing the human condition does not extend to the examination of his own ego. As an educated person who is not an aristocrat, Werther marvels at the foibles of those above him just as he romanticized the working class people and peasants he met earlier in the story. This emotional distance allows him to be objective, to see the nuance in people’s varying situations, and to make a rational judgment of their worth. When he casts himself in the role of judge, it suggests that he sees himself as different. Werther doesn’t see himself as egotistical because he does not seek to place himself above anyone else, but he fails to see that this act of placing himself apart from everyone else suggests that he sees himself as special by comparison. 

The ultimate irony in the aftermath of Werther’s downfall at court is that the only two people whom Werther likes at court, Count C— and Miss B—, each play a major part in Werther’s downfall and humiliation. Up until the evening at the home of Count C—, Werther believes that Count C— and Miss B— return his liking and respect, and perhaps they do. Yet it is telling that the only two nobly-born people at court who do not seem to care that Werther is in a lower social class are the same two who are front and center at the scene of Werther’s disgrace. This indicates that their ties to the prevailing class system are deeply rooted, and their loyalty to their class far outweighs any casual affection or amusement they may have derived from Werther’s company.

When Werther reacts with violent thoughts in the immediate aftermath of his court scandal, it is clear that his comfort with the idea of self-harm is shifting from hypothetical to concrete. The fact that he considers murder as an alternative for venting his fury speaks to the considerable amount of anger that lives within him, and foreshadows that his extreme emotions will ultimately destroy him. When Werther resigns without consulting Wilhelm, it is yet another instance of Werther keeping information from Wilhelm. He knows Wilhelm would try to persuade him not to abandon his career path which foreshadows the fact that Werther is about to do something foolhardy. Werther’s plan to join the army and go to war is potentially a clever way of killing himself without actually committing suicide, making it clear that his trip down memory lane may be Werther’s attempt to bid this place, and himself, farewell.

Werther’s arrival in Walheim does not set the stage for Werther to fall in love but, rather, is a grim harbinger of things to come. Everything in Werther’s world is steadily progressing from bad to worse. The death of the baby, the scandal of the young man and the widow, and the tree that Werther compares himself to all symbolize the deterioration of Werther’s situation and his mental state. The fact that he empathizes with a man whose passion drove him to violence suggests that Werther’s ethics have become as tattered as the leaves on his metaphorical tree. Werner’s empathy foreshadows how passion will soon cause him to become violent with himself.

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