Page - 48 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

48 Psychosexual development in puberty she handed each one his slice with great warmth, and each one called out an artless “Thank you!”. Each one had stretched out his little hands way up, even before the slice had been cut, and now, contented with their supper, they either dashed off or, if their nature was placid, they walked off calmly. (Goethe 2004, 11) At a dance they come into closer contact, but Lotte informs Werther that she is practically engaged to Albert – fulfilling a promise she made to her mother on her deathbed. Werther seeks Lotte’s company, since he has found a kindred spirit in her. However, Albert’s return alters the situation: although he at first tolerates Lotte’s meeting with Werther, the growing attraction Werther feels for this unattainable woman leads to his increasing depression. The dichotomy between Werther, with his stormy emotions, and the reasonable, reliable Albert, becomes clear. Werther flees, taking a job at the court, and then returns to Waldheim, where Lotte lives. But his supervisor’s pedantry and the rigid conservatism of courtly etiquette conspire to defeat him, since as a bourgeois he is not considered of req- uisite rank. This deep insult and Werther’s role as an outsider lead to his breaking off his relations with the court. When he then learns that Lotte has married Albert during his absence, he once again visits her and sees that he is still in love with her. However, this love can no longer be lived, since she is married. In a moving conclusion, he says farewell to his love for Lotte, his life and nature’s beauty, then shooting himself. Discussion The stormy feelings Werther discovers within himself and describes in the letters to his only close friend, Wilhelm, are similar to the diary entries of adolescents. In an access of enthusiasm, he enjoys nature’s beauties, feels himself as the center of the world as a great painter – even though he can only observe and not yet paint. His love for Lotte is hopeless, since she is already engaged. Here, we can see the basic structure of the Oedipal situation – when parents exclude the child from their sexual relationship. Werther thinks he is closer to Lotte (representing his mother) than to his rival (standing for his father). This passionate courting of the already married woman becomes the novel’s focus, conquering the reader. Through Lotte’s words, Goethe makes it clear that she interests Werther because she belongs to another man – that he is attracted by the triangular situation where he might deprive Albert of Lotte: She was holding his hand. “Just one moment of calm thinking, Werther!” she said. “Don’t you sense that you’re deceiving yourself, voluntarily destroying yourself? And why me, Werther? Why me, when I belong to another man? This, and nothing else? I fear, I fear that it’s only the impossibility of possess- ing me which makes that desire so alluring to you”. (Goethe 2004, 27)