Literature

The Sorrows of Young Werther, Elective Affinities, and Novella: The Collected Works of Goethe, Volume 11

    Edited by
  • David E. Wellbery
    Translated by
  • Judith Ryan

The definitive English version of three landmark works of world literature

Paperback

Price:
$27.95/拢22.00
ISBN:
Published:
Nov 17, 2026
Pages:
312
Size:
6.13 x 9.25 in.

Containing three of Goethe鈥檚 major prose works, this volume explores a range of themes: unfulfilled love, infidelity, divorce, tragic love, fantasy, and moral rebirth. One of Goethe鈥檚 best-known works, The Sorrows of Young Werther, explores the extremes of the subjective experience through the novel鈥檚 depiction of a sensitive young man caught up in a love impossible to fulfill. In Elective Affinities, a novel of tragic love, Goethe employs all the requisites of sentimental romance to give a deeply ironic perspective to the idea of love. As the title indicates, Novella examines the possibilities inherent in this genre.

The Collected Works of Goethe presents modern translations of a representative portion of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe鈥檚 vast body of work. Selected from more than 140 volumes in German, this twelve-volume series remains the standard collection in English and features poetry, drama, fiction, memoir, criticism, and scientific writing.