WERTHER INVITES A POLITICAL APPROACH, in addition to a psychological one. Not only does it portray a wide spectrum of society, from farmhands to nobility, but several of Werther's letters contain reflections on the prevailing class system. These societal implications, we have already seen, caused the novel's earliest critics to consider the book a threat — welcome or not — to the established order. This response continued over the next two centuries, assuming various forms that reflect historical developments, from the rise of liberal nationalism through conservative nationalism to the Cold War clash between socialism and liberal democracy. Over time, the sometimes strident debate about the novel's politics has revolved primarily around two fundamental issues: the extent to which identifiable social forces impinge on Werther's behavior and the question of whether or not the novel reflects or even promotes historical change.

In reviewing these political interpretations, however, we must remind ourselves of Peter Hohendahl's warning to “treat with some reserve the notions that historical development proceeds either continuously or discontinuously and that there exist particular historical situations in which certain tendencies have dominated while others have withdrawn into subordinate roles” (1985b, 180). Literary criticism is in fact far more motley than historical surveys, including this one, would suggest, and the patterns that do emerge at least partly reflect scholarly convenience. In short, all generalizations should be taken with a grain of salt.