Which German poet wrote the novel 'The Sorrows of Young Werther'?

The German poet who wrote The Sorrows of Young Werther is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. First published in 1774, the novel is an epistolary work told largely through letters written by its emotionally intense young protagonist.

Werther falls in love with Charlotte, who is already engaged to Albert. The novel turns this unrequited love into a study of passion, social constraint, artistic sensitivity, and despair. Goethe drew partly on real events, including his own attachment to Charlotte Buff and the suicide of his acquaintance Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem.

The book became an international sensation and helped establish Goethe as a major literary figure. Its popularity produced “Werther Fever,” with readers copying the protagonist’s clothing and manner. The novel is associated with the German Sturm und Drang movement and strongly influenced later Romantic literature. Goethe completed it in only a few weeks at age 24.