该书是一部让歌德在德国几乎一夜成名的小说。本书于1774年秋天在莱比锡书籍展览会上面世，并在那里成了畅销书。它是歌德作品中被他的同时代人阅读得最多的一本。由此而来的成功给歌德的一生带来了名誉和财富。《少年维特的烦恼》的初版属于狂飙突进运动的风格，而修订版是魏玛的古典主义时期的代表作品。小说中的主人公——他的行为仅仅取决于他的感觉——是感伤主义的代表性人物。(The Sorrows of Young Werther was Goethe's first major success, turning him from an unknown into a celebrated author practically overnight. This book was published in the autumn of 1774 at Leipzig book exhibition. It is a book with most readings in Goethe's works. And the success brought Goethe a lifetime of fame and wealth. The first edition of The Sorrows of Young Werther belongs to Sturm und Drang movement while the revision was representative works of Weimar Classicism movement. The behavior of the protagonist just depends on his feelings. This shows the protagonist is representative figure of sentimentalism.)