The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe and the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare are two stories that perfectly portray love and death, also note like Liebestod. Their heroes Romeo and Werther have much in common besides taking their own lives in the name of love and damning their souls. They share the same reactions to similar situations and idolize their beloved. At the beginning of the stories it is shown that Romeo and Werther resemble loneliness. Romeo's mother says that Romeo "closes the windows, shuts out the daylight, and makes himself an artificial light" (1.1.142-43). Werther also remains alone and often goes into the woods to lie down on the grass and observe the nature around him. When Romeo and Werther fall in love they become immensely obsessed with their object of desire. The two have had past relationships that have left them a little heartbroken, Rosaline has recently rejected Romeo and Werther has lost an older woman he was in love with. Both, long after the unattainable, Romeo knows he cannot have Juliet because she is the enemy's daughter and Werther also knows he cannot have Lotte because she belongs to another man. But the facts don't stop them from chasing the girls. They both have similar feelings when they first meet their ladies, when Romeo first meets Juliet at the Capulets' ball he says, "For Ine'er hath seen true beauty till this night" (1.5.55) and when Werther describes Lotte saying "she is perfection" (Goethe pg. 36). Likewise they are completely fascinated by women; they describe them as impeccably beautiful and flawless creatures. Richard Hawley, writer and educator, says: "as Romeo first sees Juliet in the... middle of the page... of their love life, so they both end their lives with their own hands and make a toast to their lovers ". name. Even though Romeo is not a Romantic with a capital "R" and does not hope that God will forgive his suicide, he has many points in common with Werther. They loved with all their hearts and projected a deep passion, obsession and madness to both affection and loved them so passionately and deeply that the love they thought would become their salvation became their tragic end. Works Cited Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet USA: Signet Classics, 1998. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von Classics, 1989. Print.Hawley, Richard "The Breaking of Boys and Men: Part Three." Hawley thought. May 18, 2009. April 23, 2014. (http://hawleythinks.blogspot.ca/2009/05/breaking-of-boys-and-men-part-two.html)