Pages 129 through 182 Summary and Analysis

Identifications

One may project himself into a love relationship. He may identify with a certain circumstance or characteristic of one of the principles. Such an observation can cause one to be devalued in his own eyes and the love object can be devalued as well. Werther identifies himself with every lost lover—he is the madman who commits suicide from his unrequited love for Charlotte.

Images

Often what one sees is more powerful than what one knows. Werther knows full well that Charlotte belongs to Albert but when he sees them embrace his misery is more pronounced.

The Unknowable

"Knowing" the loved one is a contradiction. The lover has confidence that he knows the other better than anyone. Yet this confidence is easily shaken and devolves into anguish over seeing the other as impenetrable, intractable, not to be...