Feeling And Reason And Their Relationship In The Sorrows Of Young Werther By Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
“Reasoning” is a Descriptor for “Feeling”.
You can see that the “feelings” of Werther in his relationship with Charlotte are what changes “reason”. Both are interconnected; they cannot be separated. The relationship between adverbs and verbs is very similar. Adverbs can only describe verbs. The adverb determines the way the verb is performed. The same is true for reasoning. Feelings dictate how someone will think. Werther’s description of his feelings for Charlotte is a good indicator of what he will do. He also reasons with pain because he is in pain due to his love. You could say that Werther’s suicide was a result of his feelings and emotions, and not reason. Werther’s emotions only heightened his reasoning. He could have done the same thing, but with a positive attitude, instead of a depressed one.
Throughout The Sorrows of Young Werther Werther prefigures his death by describing the sadness and pain he feels because Charlotte is not there. He’s describing the future of his reasoning. The reader is only able to see the description for now. Werther says, “I’m sometimes unsure if I exist.” In these moments, if Charlotte doesn’t allow me to comfort myself with tears by bathing Charlotte’s hand in my tears, then I feel the need to pull myself away from her. Translated, he means that there are times when he wonders if anyone is even around. In those moments, if Charlotte does not allow him to bathe her hand in my tears, I feel compelled to tear myself away from her. It almost makes Werther seem selfish. Like he is saying, “If things don’t go my way, I won’t be living.” Like everything must be perfect at all times. This selfishness alters his reasoning. This quote also shows that he is naive as he can’t see the flaws in things.
Werther also describes his reasoning as dramatic. The statement of suicide is bold, as are the words Werther uses about Charlotte. Werther means to say that, having seen Charlotte comforting a weak person, he feels more pain without Charlotte than a dying person. This is not only a dramatic statement, but also a sign of his future reaction. It also shows his naivete and selfishness. It is self-centered to say that an animal dying cannot be suffering any more than he. It is naive of him to compare death with anything, even though he has no idea how it feels. He is unable to see these facts because of his dramatic style.
Werther foreshadows that he will die by expressing his sadness at Charlotte’s disappearance. The book’s most significant moment of pre-foreshadowing comes when Werther says, “Whither will I go?” I’ll tell you confidentially. I have to stay here for a week longer, but I would rather visit the mines of –. But I’m only fooling myself. . . “. He doesn’t know where he’s going. This can be compared to death. If you believe in the existence of an inner self that departs when one dies, it is impossible to know what will happen to your soul after death. Werther says that he is obligated by his own conscience to fight for Charlotte’s love for a short time, but then he must return to the reality of life. Werther then claims he was “deluding himself” and that he would never stop loving Charlotte. Death is no different. It is impossible to go back after a person or their body has died. It is not possible to turn a switch to return things to their original state. This statement, in the sense that it describes death, foreshadows Werther’s suicide. This quote shows that Werther might not be so naive after all. Even though he still has much to learn about himself, he’s confident enough to state that Charlotte is the only place his thoughts will go. Werther continued, “. . . In fact, all I want is to be in Charlotte’s vicinity again. “I obey my heart’s dictates and smile at its suggestions.” He fails to realize that these descriptors of reason are derived from the heart. The brain can provide a pure and unbiased rationale that will lead to the safest, most effective solutions, but the heart has feelings that can alter this purity. You can’t just choose one. The two work together, and to choose only to obey your feelings would be detrimental.
Werther’s depressive state over Charlotte is the cause of his death, as is his inability to deal with it. Charlotte knows how to handle it. “We spoke of the joys of dance,” she says. Charlotte confessed, “I love dancing more than any other activity.” When I am disturbed, I play a song that I’ve danced to on the piano. Everything is immediately restored. . . “. She does not act on her first negative thought. She uses music to soothe herself when she’s upset. She stops thinking negatively to stop negative reasoning. It shows she understands the “adverb verb” relationship between her emotions and her reasoning. Werther continues: “. . . You know how much I loved her lips and her cheeks. How I got lost in the wonderful meaning of her words. Charlotte represents the Enlightenment whereas Werther represents Romanticism. Werther has become so enthralled by Charlotte’s beauty that he completely misses Charlotte’s point. While he can see that Charlotte loves to dance and play the piano, he is more focused on her lips and eyes. Charlotte is able to do these things because she uses them as a neutralizer. They reduce the intensity of some descriptors to make her more rational. There is a spectrum of feelings and reason. Charlotte’s musical taste puts her right back into the middle. Werther, on the other hand, is constantly falling lower because of his preoccupations and obsessions.
The relationship between emotion and reason is explained in Goethe’s The Young Werther Sorrows. Many may believe that they are distinct, as many people think religion and the sciences. It is true that reason and feeling are related, explaining why humans act in certain ways. In the interest of argument, let’s call this relationship “adverb-verb”. The feelings of a person can alter the rationale. Werther chose to end his life because of this. The pain and depression he felt over one particular thing clouded his reasoning. The spectrum that was mentioned earlier helped to visualize this concept and made it easier to grasp. The horizontal line can be pictured as reason. In the middle, everything is untouched and pure. Feelings have not yet interfered. The leftward movement indicates the negative impact of feelings, while moving to the rightward direction indicates a positive effect. It does not mean that a positive outcome is always good. You might feel so positive that you decide to put off your homework and head to the beach. Reality is, I’d be in a serious bind. In the long run, the closer you are to the middle of the spectrum, the happier you will be. The Sorrows of Young Werther portrays this relationship in a negative way.
