Victor was born in a wealthy middle-class family and received a good education. He is good at poetry and painting, loves nature and is sentimental. One day in early spring, in order to dispel his inner troubles, he bid farewell to his family and friends and came to a remote mountain village with pleasant scenery.
This young man, who lives a free life by his father's legacy, is deeply interested in the natural scenery of the mountain village and simple living. Everything in the mountain village is as beautiful as heaven, green mountains and green waters, the morning light is slightly exposed, the children and girls in the village … all these make him feel that he lives in a paradise and forgets all his troubles. Soon after, at a dance, Victor met the daughter of the local judge and fell in love with her immediately. He danced with Charlotte as if they were the only two in the world. Although Lydia has been engaged for a long time, she is very loyal to Victor. After the dance, they stood at the window excitedly. Green looked at Victor with tears in his eyes. Victor was deeply immersed in the whirlpool of feelings and kissed her hand with tears in his eyes.
From then on, although the sun and the moon rose and set, Victor could never tell the innocent day from the night. His heart is only green. Charlotte's fiance, Abreu, is back. He loves her very much and is very kind to Victor. They learned to talk about her together. The green foothills, leisurely streams and floating clouds have been unable to calm him down. He often feels small and uncomfortable. At night, he often dreamed that she was sitting beside him, and when he woke up in the morning, he was the only one in bed. He can only sigh fate. Finally, under the persuasion of his friends, he made up his mind to leave his beloved Lydia and the small mountain village that once brought him joy and happiness.
Victor returned to the city and worked as a clerk in the legation. He tried his best to adapt himself to the job, but his boss, who was full of bureaucratic habits, found fault with his work and made things difficult for him everywhere, and his colleagues were afraid that others would surpass him, which caused him great distress. Just when he was deeply bored, he met a respectable Count C by chance. Count C is humble, honest, knowledgeable, friendly and trusting to Victor, which brings a little comfort to Victor.
One day, the count invited him home for dinner, but a group of nobles came after dinner. They looked at Victor haughtily and contemptuously. Even people he knows are afraid to talk to him. The count came over and urged him to leave here quickly. Wherever he goes, he can see mocking faces and hear sarcastic words. He finally resigned angrily.
At the invitation of a marquis general, he went to the hunting village, during which he wanted to join the army, but at the suggestion of the marquis, he soon gave up the idea. Marquis treated him well, but he always felt uncomfortable there. He has been thinking of Charlotte, and under the inner traction, he returned to his original mountain village. Although the scenery of the mountain village remains the same, the personnel are completely different. The beloved Charlotte has already become Albert's wife, and the kind villagers have suffered misfortune one by one. He went to visit the two children who had painted for them, but the children's mother told him that her youngest son had died. He went to visit the farmer who told him his inner secret and happened to meet him on the way. The farmer said that he was fired because he boldly expressed his love to his hostess, and her brother fired him for fear that he would take away his sister's property. He wants to hug Charlotte more than a thousand times. Even if he presses her on his heart once, the gap in his heart will be filled, but he dare not reach out when he sees her.
Winter is coming, the weather is getting colder and colder, and the flowers and plants are withered and desolate. He saw a young man lose his job and become crazy because of his love for Charlotte. Later, the young man killed a farmer. Victor sympathized with him and tried his best to defend him. As a result, he was opposed by the judge. The failure to save people plunged him into deeper sorrow, and made him feel that he was at the end of the road, and his pain and worry reached the extreme, which made his feelings push him to a sad ending step by step.
On the day before Christmas, he came to his sweetheart Charlotte and said goodbye for the last time. At this time, the dying fire of love instantly radiates light. He recited Ossian's elegy to Charlotte and hugged her tightly. Two days later, he left a suicide note that he couldn't bear to read. At midnight, he said to himself, "Charlotte! Green! Goodbye, goodbye! " Picking up her husband's pistol, she ended her life and troubles at the same time.
Goethe's novels written in first-person epistolary can be divided into the first part and the second part.